More Than You'll Ever Know
by juniorvaristy
Summary: COMPLETE! -Chap 26, 26, Epilogue- All Adam’s dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He’d lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better
1. Adam

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Ducks, only Jessica and Ethan so far.**

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better.

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks ****

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note (more like plead): **This is my first Mighty Ducks fic so _PLEASE be nice!!!!! Ok so here's the first chapter…_

**Adam**

****

            I sat there, staring into empty space. There wasn't anything to do so I just sat there on my bed. All my other team-mates…I mean friends, were out with their boyfriends, girlfriends, or just friends for that matter. Charlie, Katya (a girl from his old school I guess), Connie, and Guy were at the movies. Portman and Julie went for dinner with Fulton and Averman. Goldberg was taking Luis and Dwayne to "see the sights of Minnesota" as they said. Really, they were just going girl-hunting. The only person without an activity was Ken Wu and he had gotten sick. The new Ducks were here with us in Minnesota for the last few days of summer vacation. We had just been granted scholarships to Eden Hall, a prep school that I was going to go to anyway. 

            Sighing, I got up and laced my blades up. 'Might as well do _something useful. This'll help me get in shape for the hockey season.' I thought. Not that I _hadn't_ been practicing by myself every other day of summer vacation either. I snorted to myself at how pathetic I was as I skated out to the old pond that divided the Hawks and the Ducks. Well, it did before. There were bright memories of the days when the other Hawks and I hung-out right beside the pond. "Those were the days," I muttered._

            "They sure were…" someone said skating right up next to me. I looked up to find Danny Larson, an old friend and team-mate, staring out across the water.

            "Hey Danny. How's it been going?" I asked.

            "Okay, I guess. Are you having fun with the Ducks?"

            "Yeah. Hey, where are you going for school this year?" I was curious as to what high school Danny was going to go to.

            "Sherman Academy. You?"

            "Eden Hall Academy…" I was disappointed. Despite the whole transfer thing in pee-wees, Danny had still been a good friend. At least _he_ didn't push me into a goal post…

            "Man, you got in?"

            "Yeah…well we got scholarships."

            "The Ducks?"

            "Yeah."

            "That's awesome! Remember Ethan Morris?"

            "Vaguely, yeah."

            "He's going there now, playing football instead of hockey. Jessica told me he loves it there!" Danny stopped, realizing he was talking to me. Jessica Morris had been a good friend of mine, even after I had been moved onto the Ducks. But after the Junior Goodwill Games, she started going out with Zak Hill, an old Hawk player. I told her that I didn't like him because he was a pimp and a total asshole. Obviously, that was a mistake because she got mad at me and hasn't spoken to me since. It's just fine with me though. It was just trying to help her out and if she couldn't take it, then I wouldn't speak to her either.

            "How's Jessica anyway?" I asked awkwardly, not that I wanted to know or anything.

            "She's okay. She can't wait until school starts again though."

            "How come?"

            "Her mom. It's driving Jess crazy. She's spending more and more time at my house."

           "That sucks." It really was bad at Jessica's house. Their father mysteriously disappeared or something. Ethan Morris, who was a senior in high school that coming year, had to baby-sit Jessica a lot. Their mom turned alcoholic and it was strange. Some nights, she'd come home and be just fine, but other nights, she'd be drunker than anything. We didn't exactly know what went on in the house when that happened, but Jessica and Ethan assured us that she just yelled and screamed a lot. 

            "You got a girl?" Danny asked, trying to change the subject.

            "Actually…no."

            "Why not? I mean come on, Adam Banks, star Duck. Who _wouldn't_ want you?" he asked me jokingly.

            "Because she decided that she likes younger men," I muttered. My ex-crush, Liz, decided to go out with my little cousin, who's a year younger. "He has more personality…not just hockey. Don't take it personally, Banksie." She told me. I shook my head to clear my head from those thoughts.

            "Well if she's going to be like that, you should look for better girls. She doesn't deserve you," Danny declared, "Besides, I bet the Eden Hall girls are hot." I smiled a little.

            "Hey Banksie!" Charlie called. Danny hesitated and started to leave, but I pulled on his arm. It was time the Ducks came face to face with him.

            "Hey, Charlie. You know Danny Larson, right?" Charlie's smile flickered, but he said, "Yeah. You're the guy that helped Adam back in the championship game. You know, when McGill pushed Banks?"

            "Yeah…" Danny muttered, "McGill was pretty mad after the game."

            "What did he do, anyway?" Connie skated up with the rest of the team. Danny looked at her, then at me. I nodded. I never _did_ find out with McGill did to Danny.

            "Well first Reilly yelled at us. Something about having the puck under our sticks only to be whipped from behind and us being stupid idiots. I don't remember. McGill, Hill, and I were the only ones who ever made the team again, not that anyone really tried out again," he started, "After, you know the lecture, McGill followed me outside and called me a traitor and stuff. He beat me up and gave me this," Danny rolled up his sleeve and we saw a scar running up his arm in a line. Connie gasped and jumped while Charlie raised his eyebrows.

            "Did you tell anyone?" I asked, horrified that just a few years ago, McGill was in my room joking with me.

            "No. well, yeah. I told my parents. They forbade me to go within 100 feet of McGill, which is just dandy with me."

I digested what Danny just told me. Personally, I couldn't believe that both Danny and I had _ever_ been friends with him. He didn't seem to have any human feelings at all. The Ducks were quiet, probably from shock.

            "Hey Danny! We gotta go!" Danny's older brother, Jason called out running towards us, "Hey, Banks! How've you been?"

            "Pretty good, thanks."

            "Danny, Sally's just got her license! We're gonna celebrate!"

            "Well what about you?" Danny asked. Sally and Jason Larson were fraternal twins who were friends with my brother Andrew.

            "Oh that…" Jason looked down. Immediately I felt bad because Jason had worked so hard for it.

            "…well, meet you new driver!" Jason suddenly whipped out his license. Danny yelped in happiness. He said a quick good-by to me and the Ducks and then skated off to ride with his brother.

            I had almost forgotten the rest of the Ducks were even there.  They were being so quiet, but then again, they didn't know any of the Hawks too well. Why would they even want to after all the horrible things they and I had done? It was a miracle that I was even tolerated around them.

            "So what are we doing?" I asked.

            "That is one nice Hawk..." Charlie mused, ignoring my question. Well technically, he was an ex-Hawk. Connie however, agreed, "Yeah. He's more like a Duck than a Hawk."

            "The only things that are stopping him are the district lines and his parents," I said simply, "He'd much rather be a Ducks and keep playing hockey, even though he's playing in high school. He just won't have the practice. He hates hockey with Coach Reilly and only stopped playing for him a year ago, finally fed up. But he's too far towards the East to play for the Ducks. He'd move, but his parents refuse to sell their house. It doesn't make sense. Jason and Sally don't play hockey. Well, Jason plays for his private high school. It doesn't matter what district they're in and all Mr. Larson and Mrs. Larson want is for their kids to be happy. Jason and sally don't…" I trailed off as I saw a familiar figure skating in our direction.

            "Jessica…" I whispered.

            "What?" Guy asked

            "Nothing," I shook is off, "We've had a bad history, that's all."

            "What happened?" Now they were all interested in my life story. Great.

            "Later," I muttered as she slowed down, staring at me. Her hazel eyes clouded over as she spotted me.

            "Have you seen Danny?" she mumbled. 

            "Went home. Jason and Sally got licenses."

            "That's great!" She exclaimed with little emotion. Jessica ran her hand through her strawberry blondish hair and sighed. I wished she'd hurry up and leave so my life could go on. Without saying anything, she skated off. Jessica Morris. Princess of the ex-Hawks. I hated her.

***Please Review! I wrote some of the rest of it already, but I need to know if you wanna hear it!***


	2. Charlie

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better.

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks ****

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note (more like plead): **Thanks for all your reviews: **Usagi (Thanks! See what a little begging can do for ya? *winks* update soon though!), ****Brittany (I think I will continue at that =p), and **Kelly** (Yes, the Jessica, Adam rivalry will be interesting and half of it will seem stupid too, but when you're in a fight, you're in a fight. What can you do? And yeah, I liked Larson a lot too!)**

****

**Charlie**

****

            If that girl that just skated by wasn't one of the hottest ones yet…I could tell Fulton (Portman was in Chicago), Luis, Dwayne, and Averman were practically drooling over her.

            "What happened between you and that beautiful little lady?" Averman asked finally turning back to Banks. Banks shook his head and muttered, "I gotta go guys. We'll talk later." He turned and skated away. That was strange. Just a few minutes ago, he was asking what we wanted to do.

            "What was _that all about?" Guy asked, confused._

            "It must have been pretty bad between them," I mused. It wasn't like Banksie to run off without reason, "It wonder what happened…" I sighed and decided to play the role of psychiatrist, not for the first time, and skated off after him, in hopes of finding him. The team knew what I was doing because isn't it _always me who does that?_

            "Come on Banks…be here somewhere…" As if on cue, I saw him sitting on the bench over-looking the whole park.

            "Hey Charlie…" Adam looked up when he heard my footsteps on the dirt.

            "How did you know I'd be here?" I asked, surprised that _he wasn't surprised. _

            "You're just that predictable, Charlie. Besides, you're the one that _always comes after the upset one. Come one, you should know better than that!" He was faking all that cheery crap and I knew it._

            "What's up?" His mask slid and his face was dark again.

            "Nothing…."

            "Then why did you mood change from happy to upset in a second back there? And is it just me or is it just too much of a coincidence that the change in mood happened directly after you saw that girl again?" He was silent. Either he didn't want to admit that I was right or he was just feeling way to down to respond.

            "Adam?" I sat down, using his first name, something I've only done once before.

            "Why?" he blurted out.

            "Why what?"

            "Why do you Ducks bother being so nice to me? It's been almost 4 years, I know. But I'd never forgive me if I were you."

            "That's the thing. We're not you. And Banks, you're a Duck too; you've proven loyalty to us ever since McGill pushed you into the goalpost your 1st year with us. The past is the past. What you did can be forgotten because you've changed. You're a Duck, Adam, a natural born Duck."

            "You mean that? I mean, all of you?"

            "Yeah, of course."

            "Okay." He still wasn't convinced and I knew it, but at the same time, it wasn't what was bothering him so I let it drop. For now.

            "Now, are you going to tell me about the girl?"

Adam hesitated, but said, "To make a long story short, we used to be really good friends. We had a fight, we never spoke since, that's all."

            "I want the long story."

            "Are you sure?"

            "Positive."

            "Don't tell…not even the others. Okay, well maybe Jesse, but no one else."

            "Sure."

He took a deep breath then started, "Okay. I met Jessica Morris when her brother Ethan came to my house to play with _my brother. He was hanging out when she and their mom came to pick him up. We were about three then and Ethan and my brother introduced us. We hung-out with Danny Larson and Barry McGill. It was the four of us since the beginning, something like the 'Fantastic Four'. We pledged that no matter what, we'd stick together until the end. Obviously, Barry broke it. Well, when Danny, Barry, and I tried out for hockey, Jessica tagged along. She hung-out at practices and was considered a Hawk. Coach put her in a few times when we were against District 5…well, before the Ducks. She's actually really good and Reilly even got her a jersey. So anyway, when I got transferred to the Ducks, she remained my friend and stuck by me when everyone else labeled me traitor. But after the Junior Goodwill Games last year, around the time of Christmas, she started going out with Zak Hill, who used to be the Hawk goalie." He stopped._

            "Well what's wrong with Zak Hill, other than the fact that he's a Hawk?" I asked. Adam sighed, "He's the biggest player ever. I mean, I guess Zak's nice enough. He just wouldn't make a great boyfriend, that's all. I've seen what he's done to other girls."

            "So why didn't you tell Jessica that?"

            "I did. I told her exactly what I told you. I really didn't want her to get hurt."

            "What happened?"

            "She blew-up at me. She said something about judging people too soon. She said I was being judgmental or just plain jealous. Anyway, she yelled that she never judged my friends who were female, not that I had many, so I shouldn't judge her boyfriends. She was real hurt and we never spoke since."

            "Oh…"

            "It's stupid, I know. We should have apologized and made up by now. But it's more than that. It's not just the whole Zak Hill thing. It was the fact that Jessica didn't trust me to be looking out for her. It hurt _me too since we were best-friends and everything."_

            "But you guys were…"

            "I don't think that's all either," he continued, obviously not able to stop talking now that he started, "I think I really liked her more than I'd like to admit." So that was it. _That _was what was bothering Banks so much about Jessica's appearance that day. I guess it didn't help much that the rest of the guys were gawking at her either. I looked at my watch and jumped. My mom made me promise to be home before six. I had ten minutes.

            "I gotta go, sorry." I apologized. 

Banks smiled at me weakly, "Bye!"

            I ran off and by the time I got home, I saw Coach…I mean Bombay's car parked in front of our house. He wasn't going to be our coach at the new prep school and I had forgiven him, yes. But it was still awkward not to call him coach.

            "Hey, Charlie!" he greeted, slapping my back.

            "Hey, Bombay!" How's it going?"

            "Pretty good. How's the rest of the team doing? Excited for high school?"

            "Yeah, I guess."

We went inside, after giving up on small talk, where my mom cooked dinner for all of us. My step-dad was on business. Thank God. My mom had a week off while the diner was being renovated. 

            "Ring, ring!" Coach's phone rang. Rolling his eyes, he picked it up, "Hello? Yes, yes, yes…" his face grew dark "What? Here? That's right…" my mom and I exchanged worried glances. What was going on?

            "I-I remember. No, she never told me about the second one. I don't know…tomorrow? Ten in the morning? Okay. Where? Alright. I'll be there." He hung-up with that same dark expression etched onto his face.

            "Gordon, what's wrong?" my mom asked. He sure was acting weird.

            "Nothing. It's not an important call. Don't worry," he turned back to dinner, "This is great, Casey. Charlie, you learn to love mom's cooking. Later on, when have no food to eat and can't cook anything edible, you can come back." I laughed lightly.

            Even thought he claimed that it was nothing, Bombay was distant throughout the rest of the night. I knew it was the phone call, but what was it? And why was he being so secretive?

            I sighed as I lay in bed that night thinking about weird things happening. Banksie's dilemma was strange. He kept saying that he hated Jessica, but he consistently said nice things on her behalf. Bombay's problem was even more bizarre. What was it about that phone call? It kept me awake for way too long, but finally, I fell into a very uneasy sleep.

***Please review!!***


	3. Bombay

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. **This chapter: **Bombay makes a discovery about his past that may bring back Adam's past.

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks ****

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note (more like plead): **Thanks for all your reviews: **starstudded (Thanks! I totally agree with you. I love your story! Please update soon!),** orlisgirl** (Thanks! I hope you like this!), and **Kelly** (*smiles* I'm glad you like this so far. Thanks so much for sticking with me! MWA!)**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica and Ethan so far.**

**Bombay******

****

            "…your children…" the voice echoed through my head. My kids. I never told anyone. During my later years in high school, I had been stupid. There was a girl that I met who was studying to be a doctor. She was beautiful inside and out and I was totally in love. We went out a few times and soon we were going steady…

            I shook my head. The memories from then on were painful and I regretted it. That night in bed, I tossed and turned until I gave up on sleep. There was no turning back. The memories just kept flowing…

_*Flashback*_

_            We had fooled around and had sex the night before. Neither of us said anything about condoms because she said it wasn't even time yet. I felt great when I woke-up, feeling up hair brushing against me. Everything was perfect._

_            That is until a month later when she missed her period. She went to the doctor's immediately. She was pregnant. _

_            "I hate you, Gordon!" She had screamed, pushed me, "I hate you for doing this to me!"_

_            "What about an abortion?" I asked desperately trying to hold onto our love. _

_            "It's too fucking late!! They can't! The baby's too far into growth! It's all your fault! I HATE YOU!" We were standing in the middle of the hospital and frankly, I was getting scared._

_            "Come on, baby! I'll help you through this! I promise! We'll get married and we'll raise the child together."_

_            "NO! GET OUT OF MY LIFE FOREVER, GORDON __BOMBAY__!!!!!!" she shrieked. By then, everyone was staring, especially at me. They all gave me accusing stares, like I did everything wrong._

_            "YEAH? WELL I DON'T WANT TO BE IN YOUR LIFE ANYWAY! YOU NEVER HAD A GREAT TIME DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PROBLEMS! I HATE YOU TOO!" I screamed back, not really meaning any of what I said._

_            "FINE!"_

_            "FINE!" As I stormed out of the hospital, I heard her throw something at me. Too bad it didn't hit. Nancy Morris never spoke to me again and I was told to stay out of the baby's life forever. I never told anyone and __Nancy_ was supposed to be taking care of the kids. I wasn't supposed to be a part of their lives…__

_*End Flashback*_

That was a long time ago. A good sixteen years ago. Nancy's lawyer called me when the kid was born. It was a boy. His name was Ethan. Ethan Matthew Morris. Not Bombay because I was to stay out of the kid's life. He wasn't supposed to know I existed.

            On the phone the night before, the lawyer said there was another one, two years younger named Jessica. I knew for a fact that I was _not her father, but it didn't matter because Nancy had control and custody of them. I didn't know __why she wanted me to meet the kids. They wouldn't care. And besides, Nancy hated me, that I was sure of it._

            At 10 AM, I walked into a law firm, much like the one I used to work at, and asked for Harry McDougal. The secretary pointed to a large office on the right. When I knocked, I heard a voice, "That must be him," then, "Come in!" I opened the door, somewhat cautiously. The guy sitting behind the desk smiled at me, "Gordon Bombay?"

            "Yeah, that's me."        

            "Harry McDougal, nice to meet you." We shook hands and he sat down again. I took a seat on the other side of his desk.

            "Now this boy is definitely yours?" he got right down to business.

            "Yes, but the girl isn't. I left Nancy as soon as she threw me out of her life. That was even before Ethan was born."

            "I see…well in that case, we might have to separate-" at that word, I caught on.

            "Wait a minute. What's going on?"

            "Oh, you didn't know? Nancy Morris, mother of two, has been caught and is being convicted for drug and alcohol abuse, along with child abuse," he said, like it meant nothing. This boy, Ethan, _my_ kid was being abused by his mother! A woman I thought I loved! And his sister! Raised on an abusive mother! That was ridiculous.

            "What's going to happen to them?"

            "They're at an orphanage now. You have full rights to legal custody of Ethan, but since Jessica isn't yours…" he trailed off in that horribly annoying way.

            "Where's her father?" I asked abruptly.

            "He died in a car accident. He was hit by a drunk driver and died almost immediately because of impact."

            "So while Ethan comes to live with me, Jessica's stuck there?" At the orphanage?"

            "Yeah, basically."

            "Well what if I want to take Jessica in too?"

            "You'll have to fill out papers and such."

            "Where's this orphanage?"

            "Edina Orphanage. It's downtown."

            "I'll go tomorrow morning."

            "Good, good. I'll call them to let them know you're coming for Ethan and Jessica." 

I thanked him and left. There was no way I was letting my kid down. Not like last time, the way I left Ethan. They would be happy and I was positive that the Ducks would like them. The Ducks were tolerant. If they could accept Adam Banks, they could accept anybody. Not that Adam wasn't a good kid. It was just that he had been their mortal enemy.

            I spent the rest of the day setting up the spare room in my house. They'd have to share, but I was sure they'd live, unless we had access to their current house, which probably wasn't too far from Edina.

***Please review! Please? PLEASE?!***


	4. Jessica

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. **This chapter: **Jessica finds out a little something about herself.

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks (not in this chapter)****

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note (more like plead): **Thanks for all your reviews: **duckslover99 (Update your story soon!),**** adoptedsin (Really? You like my dialogue? Thanks!), ****Beautyqueen321 (There will be romance later on in the story…can you guess between who? But I'll keep your advice in mind. Thanks!) and **Kelly** (Thanks for sticking with this! You rock!)**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica and Ethan so far. Now I also own Larson's brother and sister.**

**Jessica**

****

            It's hard to know what happened exactly since I was in a state of panic anyway. All I know for sure is that if my older brother Ethan hadn't gotten away for two seconds to call 9-1-1, we might have never made it out of that hellhole. 

            My mom is a nurse. It's ironic because she drinks, smokes, and I don't even _want to know what else. Some days, she'll come home and act as your everyday mom. But other days, she came home drunk. And when mom was drunk, you had to be extra careful. That particular night, Ethan and I slipped. We crept into the house at 11:35 PM, five minutes after our curfew (funny how Ethan's three years older and has the same curfew as me) and mom totally flipped. Normally, she would have let it go. But this time mom was drunk. And probably on some illegal drug too._

_*Flashback*_

            _"Where the hell have you two been?" she screams as we shut the door. Gulping, I glance over at Ethan. He's looked as scared as I feel._

_            "Sorry. The crowd was hard to get through!" Ethan apologized. We went to a post new years dance and then to the big party afterwards. It took awhile for us to find each other and a little more time to get through the crowd._

_            "SORRY?!?!" she screeches, "I work my ass off everyday just to come home to find that not one, but _both _of my kids have missed curfew!"_

_            "I said we're sorry!" Ethan protested with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He immediately regrets it. The fist came at him full force. Especially for nurse, my mom hits hard. Trust me, you don't want to feel her wrath._

_           Mom starts beating Ethan. Finally, I had enough and scream, "Stop hitting him dammit! We said we're sorry! We'll be more careful next time!" I explode. Ethan backed me up, "Yeah! Besides, we're not the ones who go drinking and neglect our kids!"_

_            "Yeah!" Mom was so furious smoke was coming out of her ears. I gulped and wished, no _hoped_, she wouldn't do anything. All hopes vanished immediately. Without warning, she picked me up and chucked me across the room. Sure, she'd done this before, but never in my whole life had I hit anything besides the wall. And it killed. As I crumpled to the ground, I felt pieces of the lamp sprinkling over me._

_            For the next twenty minutes, she beat Ethan and __I.__ Silently agreeing to do something, I started fighting back (not a good idea) while Ethan made the phone call. The police arrived ten minutes later, but they were the longest ten minutes I've ever sat through._

_*End Flashback*_

            "Kids, someone's coming for you two tomorrow." The lady from the reception desk at the orphanage told us. We didn't say anything. It was great to get away from our mom, but we were scared to be separated. Not only did we look like we'd been to hell and back four times, we were hurting too.

            "Ethan? Jessica?" a counselor called out. Ethan stood up, with me close by. He led us into a big room where many kids were playing. 

            "Hang out here. Tomorrow morning…" I cut him off, "We were informed. But, do you know if…if we'll be separated?" I asked as politely as I could.

            "Yeah, I know. As far as they've told me, there's one person coming for the both of you." He smiled and left the room. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Ethan and I sat together on the couch and watched some comedy flick. To tell you the truth, I wasn't really paying attention.

            "Jess?" Ethan asked quietly.

            "Hmmm?"

            "What are we going to tell our friends?"

I swallowed, thinking that he was right. I shrugged, racking my brain fro things to tell Danny and all of my other friends.

            Soon, a doctor came by to check up on us, breaking us out of our thoughts. It was a miracle we weren't dead or something.

            "Just use this and wrap you wrist and hand full time and everything. You have a cut under you eye, which should be healed in about a week or so. Use these eye drops to clear any pain. Also, you mighty feel throbbing in your leg. It should pass, but if it persists, call your doctor." The doctor had informed me. Then he turned to Ethan. I wasn't even listening. Of course I was lucky I hadn't broken anything, but what was wrong with me that I had to wrap my hand and wrist?

           A counselor came over to teach me how to wrap it. Ethan was told to wrap his ankle and that if the pain didn't let up, he had to see the doctor. At least that's what he told me. After all medical problems had been taken care of, Ethan and I settled back onto the couch. Soon, we fell asleep there in a heap.

            The next morning, someone woke us up at nine. They told us that we were being picked up at ten. I sleepily got dressed in my black jeans and purple tank-top. They had told us to take a change of clothes before we left the house. Ethan helped me wrap my hand again and we sat and waited.

            "They should have let us sleep longer," Ethan grumbled yawning.

            "Yeah…" I was still thinking about my friends. Ethan must have read my mind because he put his hand on my shoulder, "Why don't you ask if you can call Danny?" I sighed and walked to the reception desk, "Excuse me?" The lady looked up and smiled, "How can I help you?"

            "I, uh, my brother and I just came last night. Do you mind if I use the phone?"

            "Go right ahead. Press nine before you dial the number."

            "Thanks." I picked up the phone and dialed 9 and then Danny's number.

            "Hello?" Jason, Danny's brother, answered the phone.

            "Jason? It's Jessica."

            "Jess?! We heard sirens over at your house last night. When we tried to call earlier no one was answering. Are you and Ethan alright?"

            "Yeah, we're fine I guess."

            "What happened?"

            "Can you get to Edina Orphanage in five minutes?"

            "_Orphanage? Yeah sure, we'll be there."_

            "Thanks. Tell Danny."   

            "Will do. See you in five."

            "Bye."

            "Bye." I hung-up and thanked the receptionist. I went back to the playroom to tell Ethan. He was happy that the Larsons were coming and insisted that we wait for them in the front hall.

            Five minutes later, as promised, Jason, Sally (his twin), and Danny walked through the doors of the orphanage.

            "Hey guys!" I greeted them.

            "Hey." Was the initial response. All three looked confused.

            "What's going on?" Danny asked. We sat on the bench against the wall.

            "Someone's coming for us," Ethan told him.

            "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Rewind. Start from the beginning. Why are you here in the first place?" Sally asked.

            "Well to make a long story short, our mom got caught, we ended up here, they found someone who's related to us." Ethan compressed.

            "Elaborate." Danny looked straight at me. I sighed, "This might take awhile."

            "We have all day." I rolled my eyes, knowing they wouldn't let me off the hook until either me or Ethan told them everything. And since Ethan was looking at me too, I started, "You know how our mom works later?" They nodded so I continued, "She drinks, you all know that. Sometimes, nothing would happen. Most of the time, it was fine. But sometimes, she hit us. At first, it never happened too often. Maybe once every two months. Lately, though, she's been drinking, smoking, and as we just found out, doing drugs. She got really pissed off that we were out until five minutes past curfew. She started beating us more than ever before. Ethan got away for a minute to call 9-1-1. That's all I know because everything was just a blur. All I remember is hoping she wouldn't kill us." I let out a big breath as I finished. The Larsons were speechless. But that wasn't the end of _my_ story. My mother abused me, but she wasn't the only one. My ex-boyfriend had too. We'd broken up about a week before.

            I'm not sure how I got away from Zak Hill, but I did. He was fuming mad, but I'd had had enough of him sexually harassing me all the time. I was so scared of him. After we broke-up, he moved, but he screamed that he'd get me. I went home and cried for hours before I fell asleep that night. Adam was right. Adam was right and I should have listened to him, but he could have been nicer. That's when I started getting sad and bitter at the same time. I also started having horrible nightmares, but I refused to tell anyone. Not even Ethan. 

            Danny hugged me in the midst of my thoughts. One by one the three Larson kids offered sympathy. After all, they couldn't do much more.

            "Jessica? Ethan?" A counselor called. We looked up, "Yeah?"

            "You father is here." Ethan shot up from his seat. A not so tall man with brown hair walked into the room. He wore a long brown coat and wore dress shoes. I gasped at the same time as Danny. We knew who that was. It was the Duck coach. It was Bombay. And he was my father?

***Please Review! What did you think? Am I doing badly?***


	5. Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note (more like plead): **Thanks for all your reviews: **Emma Conners (Your story is awesome!),**** and Momo (I know it's going a little slow, but bear with me. Thanks for sticking with me though!) **PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!****

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.**

**This chapter: **Adam has a little confrontation with Jessica.

**Adam**

****

            "Banks, I'm open!"

            "Banks, shoot!"

            "Banks!"

I didn't know who was calling me or what I was going to do. 'Calm down, Adam. It's a street hockey pick-up game.' I kept telling myself, but something was bothering me. What was that nagging feeling at the back of my head? And why wouldn't it just let me play the stupid game?

            "Ducks!" we all turned. It was Coach Bombay, smiling somewhat broadly.

            "Hey, Coach!"

            "What's up, Bombay?" were the general responses as we skated up to him.

            "I have some news!"

            "Yeah? We're all ears," Charlie prodded. Now Bombay got serious, "Last night, I got a phone call and it basically stated that my son and his sister need a legal guardian. So, I agreed. You're looking at a proud father now." That was met with a shocked silence. _Son? Since when did Bombay have a son? This was definitely something._

            "Uh…coach? I thought you never married…" Fulton trailed off.

            "I never married, you're right Fulton. But I had a girlfriend…" He told us the whole story of how to oldest boy was born and then how she, the girlfriend, had another child, a girl this time. The second child didn't belong to him, but we weren't supposed to say anything about that, he'd told us. They had been abused by their mother and their mom was finally caught and thrown into rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abuse. I was glad. Anyone who would do that to any kid was out of their minds and needed to be corrected or thrown behind closed bars. I felt bad for these kids.

            "Where are they?" I asked when he finished.

            "Back at their house setting up their mom's old room for me. They gave me the address and they said they knew how to get back. Apparently, they know the neighborhood so they're coming to meet you guys here." As if on cue, two people walked onto the blacktop. The girl froze when she saw me and I probably did the same.

            "Jessica," I gulped.

            "Adam," she bit her lip nervously. Coach looked surprised, "Oh you know each other?"

            "You could say that," she walked to her brother, Ethan.

            "At least we used to," I muttered. Coach didn't seem to get it. Smiling, I greeted Ethan, "Ethan! What's up?" He slapped me a high-five, "Hey Banks!" Coach looked confused so Ethan said, "The three of us used to play on the same hockey team."

            "The Hawks?" Charlie cut in. We nodded. Uh-oh. This would cause a little trouble.

            "What?" Luis, Dwayne, Russ, and Julie looked puzzled.

            "Hawks, rival team in pee-wees. They were always really mean to us." They nodded. 

            "Well guys," I defended Ethan, "Ethan already stopped playing hockey and turned to football when we faced you guys that year you switched to Ducks." They nodded. Jessica seemed to be uncomfortable just standing there. Coach told us he had to leave to sign papers and gave Ethan and Jessica instructions to be home at seven.

            After he left, I turned to Jessica, "So how's Zak?" I knew it was mean and unreasonable, but it was irresistible.

            "Why do _you wanna know?" She shot back._

            "Because I know that I can say 'I told you so' when I find out."

            "Yeah? Well he moved, so what's there left for you to say, huh Adam?"

            "Jessica, you never were one to stand up for yourself. I bet it's an all out lie, what you just told me."

            "You never were one to be stupid. But ever since the Junior Goodwill Games, I'm not so sure anymore. I mean, who would be stupid enough to stick their hand out to have a hockey stick be broken over it?"

            "Yeah? You think you're so good at hockey? Well here's a secret. The only reason Reilly let you play was because of Ethan. Not because you had talent!" She was getting me mad now. I guess I was getting her just as mad, but it wasn't even an argument anymore. It was more of an 'I'm better than you' grudge contest.

            "You're not that great either, Mr. I'm too good for everyone. You just _seem as if you're great because of your father and his bribes. Otherwise, you'd never be where you are today!" Oh now she was asking for it. I threw down my equipment and skates. She dropped her back-pack._

            The Ducks moved back, as if afraid to interfere. Ethan stepped in between us, "Hey!" But he was ignored. We were too involved in staring each other to death to even notice that anyone was even around us. I think both of us lunged at each other at the same time, swearing and punching the other. I don't think we ever made contact with each other because to tell you the truth, I could never hit a girl, even if it _was _Jessica Mor…I mean Bombay. And Jessica was never the fighting type and she wouldn't hurt a fly. Finally fed up, Ethan yelled, "STOP!" Jessica and I stopped screaming, our fists stopped flying and we faced Ethan and the now terrified Ducks.

            "Look you two obviously have your differences. What happened after the Junior Goodwill games two summers ago is all in the past. Can't you put that behind you?" Ethan asked, almost pleading. 

            "No," we said simply in unison. Ethan threw his bag onto the floor and slumped against the fence in exasperation. Now Charlie tried to take charge, "Okay well maybe it would help if you talked about it with us." I couldn't help but laugh, "Me _talk to her? Like, in a civilized way?" Charlie nodded. I rolled my eyes, "Sorry I'll pass."_

            "Is talking to each other that bad?" Jesse Hall asked. I felt a pang of guilt because Jesse, my best friend, was moving in a few days to a town about an hour away. And all I was doing was yelling at an ex-friend. Either Jessica or I spoke. Finally, Jessica picked up her bag in anger and stormed away, upset.

            "Sorry," Ethan apologized.

            "No!" Jessica screamed from the other side of the fence, "Ethan, don't apologize for me! Adam thinks he's so superior to me just because he joined his Duckie friends. I don't think he realized what a total _asshole he'd turned into after winning the gold for the USA!" She ran this time and nobody stopped her. I saw the look of pure hatred wash over Fulton's eyes._

            "Fulton, don't," I sighed. Ethan waved as he retreated. Fulton listened to me. Before a word could be said, I told the other Ducks I had to leave.

            Back at my house, my mind raced with memories of Jessica and I together as best friends. They were all triggered by her appearance that day and I think that was the only thing I liked about having her around at that point. They were good memories from being a Hawk, some of the only good ones. There were so many, especially when Jessica stood by me after I joined the Ducks.

_*Flashback*_

_            Even though they didn't know it, I was listening to their conversation from behind my porch._

_            "I still don't get why you're so stuck on getting Banks to play!" McGill's voice whined._

_            "Just because he doesn't wear our uniform doesn't mean he can't be our friend!" I heard a female voice shoot back. I cautiously peered over the hedge. There stood Jessica glaring at McGill. The rest of the Hawks stood by watching, not wanting to interfere._

_            "Look Jessica, Banks left us. He's a traitor!" McGill pointed out. I wanted to punch him, but couldn't, considering my position._

_            "He has a first name, you know!" Jessica shouted hotly._

_            "I don't recall him having one, sorry!"_

_            "Barry, you are so shallow! Don't you know what a great friend Adam has been to us? What about the time when that girl stood you up? Who was there for you?" This was met by silence._

_            "That's right," Jessica continued, "Adam. So why can't you make amends even if he joined the Ducks?"_

_            "Because he ain't a Hawk!" I sighed inwardly. McGill was being stubborn and he knew it._

_            "FINE! If you're gonna be that way, I'm not playing!" I heard a clatter of equipment and saw her throw everything- her gear and her stick- to the ground. Shaking her head slightly, Jessica skated towards my house. As silently as I could I ran back into my house. A few moments later, she knocked. After that day, we were closer than ever._

_*End Flashback*_

            I sighed, admitting to myself that I really _did_ like Jessica more than I thought. I just didn't understand why she didn't trust me. She didn't then and Jessica still didn't now. But before I could start feeling guilty, anger started to rush through me. If she hadn't been so bitchy today, I wouldn't have jerked off. But then again…

            "DAMN!" I slammed my fist through the window, breaking glass. (I guess hockey did something for my strength…)

            "Adam? What's wrong?" my brother Andrew knocked on my door. 

            "Nothing," I said through clenched teeth.

            "Can I come in?" I figured that I might as well let him in since he'd bust in if I didn't.

            "Yeah." Andrew came in and gaped at the scene, "A-Adam, sit down for a minute…sit on the bed." I obediently sat down. Andrew busily rushed to get ace bandages to wrap my hand in.

            "What happened today, bro?" he asked.

            "Nothing really." I protested. But my brother was like my best friend, "Come on Adam. You know I know you're lying." When all I did was stare at the ground, Andrew knelt down in front of me, "Look, I'm leaving for college the same day you go to Eden Hall. At least let me leave knowing you're somewhat happy."

            I swallowed, "I just saw Jessica again, that's all. She got me madder than I thought she would. It's like everything we've been through, Hawks and all, just washed away. Like we were never best friends at one point and like she turned into one of _them._ A typical ex-Hawk." I confessed. Sure we'd fought, what kind of friendship survives if there's no fighting, but we always made-up. This time it was different. It had already been 2 years. I lost one of my best friends. For good.

            "Adam, I have to admit, I've never felt that way before. But maybe this is a learning experience for the both of you. Maybe it's just a big fight that'll blow over soon. If you guys get through this one, your friendship is golden. Talk to her in a civilized manner, okay?"

            "Okay," I nodded. The door slammed in the front hall, signaling that my dad was home. Andrew patted my shoulder and left me to myself. It's not to say that I don't love my dad because I do. It's just that he gets way too over-excited about my hockey career. Of course I want to make the NHL. It's been my life long dream. Except, I want to enjoy getting there. I want to feel the excitement. But my dad doesn't understand that and half the time, I don't expect him to ever get it.

            At the dinner table, the talk was of hockey, naturally. Andrew rolled his eyes when dad started making a big deal about me and Eden Hall hockey.

            "Dad, I'll be okay, really. I'm not going to let you down. Come on, when have I let you down?" I asked him. Obviously, I let him down many times and I knew my question was stupid. I knew it so shrinking back I muttered, "Stupid question." Just loud enough for everyone to hear.

            The first time I let my dad down was when I joined the Ducks over not playing hockey at all. But I couldn't just stop playing because I would have felt like a part of me was gone. The second time was when I sprained my wrist at the Junior Goodwill Games. The scouts were everywhere and my dad was counting on me. Even though he said it was alright, disappointment gleamed through his eyes.

            "Adam, you haven't let me down. You just haven't had the best of luck. I know that you'll be fine at Eden Hall. I just want so much to see you achieve that dream of yours." I nodded my head. Dinner was pretty quiet after that.

            In bed that night, I tossed and turned, leading my thoughts to my…friends. They were all at Jessica's welcome party. I just didn't want to go and although Jesse, who called me, said he understood, he obviously didn't. The day before, Charlie assured me that what I did as a 10 year-old Hawk was forgotten. But was it really? Guy, Averman, Goldberg, Portman, Luis, Ken, Dwayne, and sometimes Julie didn't really trust me. Although they cared and stuff, they still questioned me whenever the subject of the Hawks was brought up or we talk about pee-wees or any Hawks come by. After the Ducks told the newcomers about my wonderful Hawk rep, they shied away from me as if I'd backstab them. They were all like a clique. As soon as a person did one thing wrong or unloyal, they dumped you. Of course, they'd take you back after you've groveled and begged, but there would be that mistrust. Maybe that was just me or maybe it wasn't. I'd never know. Charlie was there from the start, Jesse and Fulton gained trust at the Pee-wee state champs, Connie didn't really care, and Julie wavered between the lines. But Connie was always with Guy, as Fulton was with Portman. Julie lived in Maine and Charlie hung-out with Russ more and more everyday. Jesse and I ended up being pretty close and we hung-out whenever we could, which was not often since we weren't exactly neighbors. This left me to spending quality time with myself.

            Maybe I was asking for it, hell, I probably was, but then again, I _was shy. All my life, I had never been one to ask if I could play. That was the one thing, on top of millions of others, that I hated the most. Especially since the Hawk incident. I had clammed up and became a hermit crab. In fact, Jessica, Connie, Tammie, Julie, and my mom were the only five females I'd ever interacted with. As for males, only the rest of the Ducks, my dad, and brother. Hard as I tried, I couldn't leave the hermit shell. But I thought, 'If they're really your friends, they'd try harder to get you out of the shell wouldn't they?' I shook my head and whispered bitterly, "Way to go Adam. You barely have friends and it's your own fault." I drifted into uneasy sleep._


	6. Jesse

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note (more like plead): **Thanks for all your reviews: **Emma Conners (Your story is awesome!),**** and duckslover99 (lol…your story is hilarious!) ****PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.**

**This chapter: **Jesse finds out what the real problem is.

**Jesse**

****

            After Banks left, I swallowed, "Well all I have to say is that's the most I've heard him say at one time." Everyone nodded in agreement. Even after four years of hanging out with us, he was still pretty quiet. Even when the rest of our friends weren't there, Banks wouldn't talk unless I forced it out of him. But really, he was a good guy who cared about all his friends. I just don't think the others pried enough to get him to talk, that's all.

            "What went on with him and that amazingly hot girl anyway?" Averman asked. Guy nodded, "Yeah, he never mentioned her in pee-wees." I had to laugh,

            "If you don't remember, we didn't talk to him much in pee-wees. We didn't like him very much."

            "True."

            "But man was he mad! I have never seen Banksie so worked up over something before!" Charlie said what we were all thinking. Banks was generally a really laid back guy and it was hard to get him mad, even the slightest bit. We used to have this game where we'd see who would be the first to get him mad, but nobody ever won. That must have meant that the girl meant something to him and they had a huge falling out, or she did something horrible to him. We all shrugged and decided to go our separate ways. Charlie and I skated out of the area last. Bombay was walking towards us.

            "Hey guys!" he greeted us.

            "Hey!"

            "Listen, when's the good-bye party for you, Jesse?"

            "Tomorrow at Banks' house. It's the only house big enough for all of us," I responded. Charlie was quieter. Although he forgave Bombay for not coaching the JV hockey team at the Ducks' new high school, he was still a little uncomfortable around him.

            "Great!" Tonight go to this address and we'll welcome Ethan and Jessica to our Duck family. Tell everyone." Bombay, obviously oblivious to the troubles between Banksie and Jessica, handed each of us a card that said:

**642 Columbus Lane****, ****Edina******

Edina was Banks' neighborhood. Come to think of it, Adam lived on 661 Columbus Lane. Did that mean that she lived down the block and across the street from Banksie? Charlie and I looked at each other, shrugging. We thanked the Coach and went out separate ways.

            Before I headed over to the party, I called Banksie. The housekeeper picked up the phone, "Banks residence."

            "Hi, may I please speak to Banksie…I mean Adam?" I asked politely.

            "Sure, Jesse. Hold on a minute, I think he's in his room." The housekeeper knew my voice and Charlie's voice by then. I also knew that the Banks' took the housekeeper in like family and insisted that she not called them Mr. or Mrs. Banks.  "Hello?" Banksie's deepish voice came onto the phone.

            "Hey cake-eater!"

            "Hi Jesse. What's up?"

            "Do you happen to know where 642 Columbus Lane is?" 

There was a slight pause before I heard him say, "Yeah, why?"

            "I need to know how to get there."        

            "It's down the block and across the street from me," I smiled slightly before he continued, "why?"

            "I'm going to a party there."

            "Who invited you?"

            "Bombay. So are you coming or not, cake-eater?"

            "I don't know Jesse. I have to do some stuff around the house. Maybe later."

            "Are you sure?"

            "Yeah. I have to do a few more things for your party tomorrow night."

            "Okay…if you're sure."

            "I'm sure. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

            "Sure."

            "Have fun. Bye."

            "Bye." I hung-up and started out the door, still feeling uneasy about Banks. For most of the way there, I worried about him. First of all, the party for me was tomorrow _night_ so why couldn't he drop a few hours from his oh so vigorous planning to come to this party? Something was definitely bothering him and I was going to find out before I left. I had to.

            "Hey Jesse!" Guy called out. I waved and followed him to a house, not too much smaller than Adam's, which is huge by the way. From what I had heard, this was the house Bombay was moving into. Man, I'd definitely have to visit Cake-eater territory more often. Of course, Banksie and Bombay were the only nice people I knew in this neighborhood, well maybe Ethan too, but I didn't know him too well. Still, it was a nice place.

            We walked into the house right into an entrance hall. Coach Bombay stood there, beaming with pride (for his new house or for his new children, I wasn't too sure), "Hey guys. I just found out that they live here in Edina! I never thought Nancy lived so close…" he muttered the last part to himself.

            "Man Bombay! You're becoming a regular cake-eater!" Guy joked. Bombay smiled and showed us to the big living room. Ethan was on the couch, watching football. He looked up when he heard us come in, "Hey." We all acknowledged him in one way or another. A few minutes later, the doorbell ran and the rest of the Ducks arrived.

            I sat on the couch, watching football with Ethan, not understanding any of the terms except for 'touchdown' and 'tackle'. A few people came into the room and they looked pretty big and scary to me. Ethan high-fived them and turned to us, "Hey Ducks1 This is the Eden Hall Varsity football team." I assumed Ethan was a player on that team.

            "Yo, Mor- I mean, Bombay! Where's you sister?" a big burly brown haired guy called out. Ethan threw him a half amused, half menacing look, "Upstairs, but keep your hands off of her, Kyle. She's not interested." I sent the team a raise of an eyebrow as Kyle sat down, disappointed. Jessica came down at the moment and mumbled a hello to everyone before plopping herself down onto the floor, focusing on the football game.'

            "Hey Jess!" someone called from the door. We all looked up to find a tall dirty blond haired guy standing there. He looked kind of familiar.

            "Hi Shane, what's up?" she got up tiredly, though much more animated towards him.

            "Do you want to play some street hockey tomorrow with some of the guys?"

            "Why?" she looked confused.

            "Just a last game before we all leave for high school."

            "Man, Ryder," she laughed, "You talk as if we're going to college, never to be seeing each other again, instead of high school. But yeah, I'll come play. It's got to be in the morning though. I have a gig in the afternoon with Tori, Danny, Aaron, and Jordan." That's where I'd heard of his name! Ryder was an ex-Hawk too! By the time the pizza arrived, the football team had explained football terms and rules to us. We kind of got it, but it wasn't too clear for us, being that we've played hockey for most of our lives. 

            Throughout the rest of the party we, meaning the Ducks, took notice of how quiet Jessica was. She was either too why or too snobby. Taking it that Banksie hated her, we believed the latter. Besides, I knew what shy was and Banks was the perfect example. Jessica, on the other hand, was nothing like Banks in the sense of shyness. She was pretty, yeah, but she was snotty so that ruined all her appealing qualities.

            "I don't know how Banksie put up with her for so long," Fulton complained about Jessica as we started skating away from the big house.

            "Yeah what was up with her 'I'm too cool for you' act?" Connie rolled her eyes. We all laughed and said good-bye. I really wished I could go to Eden Hall and be there for Banksie. Well I _could_ go, but I wanted to go to public school and be there for my grandma. Besides, we were moving anyway. I just hoped nothing bad would happen while I was gone. 

***I know this chapter is short and kind of dry, but it builds up to what I need to say later. Please review!***


	7. Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: I know I got Adam's address wrong…sorry! Too lazy to change it though…PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.**

**This chapter: **A toching moment.

Adam 

****

            The next morning, the housekeeper Teresa woke me up at ten, "Mr. Banks, get up!" she called. I hated when she called me Mr. Banks and I knew Andrew hated it when she called him Mr. Banks too. I groaned and rolled over, muttering drowsily, "Teresa, please don't call me Mr. Banks. Call me Adam or even Banks of you want. For that matter, you can call me Banksie too!" I was rambling.

            "Okay Adam. Just get up. You mother wants to take you shopping to buy food for Jesse's party."

            "But why?" I whined.

            "What's wrong Adam? You never sleep this later and I never need to wake you."

            "Nothing," I sighed, "Just too tired. Thanks though, Teresa." She smiled and left. I got out of bed and pulled out the first shirt and pair of pants that I saw, slipping them on quickly.

            Jesse was moving because his grandma needed someone to stay with her; she was really sick. Plus, Jesse never really wanted to go all the way in hockey. He liked it as a past-time, but he didn't want to go to Eden Hall and have scouts watching after him every time he stepped onto the ice. Besides, he said that he wanted to lead a normal life instead of going pro in hockey. I understood and respected his decision, but still, I wanted a friend. We had already resolved to stay in tough, obviously, and to visit each other too. But still, I had to wonder, what was it going to be like alone? Sure, there was Charlie, but he suddenly became very interested in hanging out with Guy and Connie, especially after they broke up and got back together again, getting off to a rocky start. So what were the chances of him hanging out with me when he was with Guy and Connie all the time? Not many, I know. 

            For the rest of the day, my mom and Teresa set up the house. The both knew how hard Jesse's departure would be on me and consistently told me to go outside and have fun. But you see that was impossible for me to do because I had no clue where the others were and when I called them, nobody was home at anyone's place. By the time lunch was over, I could see that my mom was getting pretty tired of me moping in self-pity so I put my sakes on and went outside. In my driveway, the goal and the fake goalie is always set-up so that I can practice whenever I want to, so my dad says. So, for the next hour or so, I kept myself content with shooting the puck at a standstill goalie. It was actually getting to be fun and I was becoming more and more absorbed with my pretend game and my own personal commentaries.

            "Banks, do you _enjoy_ shooting at a wooden person?" someone called out. I looked up and saw Jesse smiling at me.

            "Actually…" I tried to look serious, but soon broke into a small smile.

            "So do you wanna hang-out or something?" he asked after a short pause.

            "Sure, what do you want to do?"

            "Let's just skate around."

            "Okay." I yelled over my shoulder that I was leaving. I'm pretty sure there was a small celebration at that announcement.

            Jesse led the way and we skated in silence. I wondered what he was thinking about and figured that something was definitely wrong. By the time we reached our favorite spot (five minutes later), still in silence, I decided to speak up.

            "Is something wrong, Jesse?" I asked quietly.

He sighed and sat down, "Not really, Banksie."

            "Are you sure?" I sat down too.

            "Yeah."

            "Hmm…In the three years that I've known you, I've learned that when you lie, you look away and run your hand through your hair."

            "So? What's your point?"

            "You're looking away and running you hand through you hair." He gave me a look between relief, anger, and amusement. I didn't know how he combined all three, but he did.

            "Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked. He nodded slightly, "I guess."    

            "So talk. I'm here to listen."

            "Well, okay. Look I don't want to go to school without you guys. It will be weird, but at the same time, I'm excited. I want to know what else I can do with myself when I give it a chance. But I can't help feeling a little guilty for leaving you guys behind. I could have gone to Eden Hall too, but I want to be there for my grandma."

            "I know. Jesse, we've had this conversation already." Yeah, I was a little confused.

            "But that's not the point," he shook his head, "I don't know. Maybe I should just stay and keep you company." 

            "No, don't you even think about doing that! Not only would I feel so guilty for making you stay, you'd end up regretting your choice, I know it," I sighed, "Look, I'm not the happiest that you're not coming to Eden Hall or even staying in the same area as me. But at the same time, I would never let myself just _not_ let you go. Besides, you'll be happy there. At Eden Hall, you'd have to hang-out with preppy, rich, snooty cake-eaters like me!" 

Jesse smiled a genuine smile then laughed, "You know, I take it all back."

            "What?"

            "Yesterday, I commented on how much you said at once when you and Jessica were having a yelling match. But this topped it. Besides, it's more touching than a yelling grudge holding contest." I laughed. I knew I was quiet and Jesse made fun of me by keeping track of how much I said in each conversation (we actually have a little pad on this).

            "You know, Adam," he got serious, "You're a great friend. Don't be afraid to step out of your shell at that prep school. People need to see you for you. Open up to the Ducks. And don't forget to report back to me on your progress. I'll be keeping track that way."

            "Thanks, Jesse. I don't know what I did to deserve a great friend like you."

            "Well you transformed from a Hawk to Duck." He smiled. We laughed and started skipping rocks, seeing who could skip the farthest.

            It's corny, that conversation, but it was one of the most meaningful ones I've ever had. I knew I'd miss Jesse, but hey, what were weekends for?

***Please Review!***


	8. Ethan and Bombay

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: I know some of you have been asking about Jessica's next chapter. It's in 2 chapters.**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: **Jessica's confession and Bombay's slip.

****

**Ethan**

****

            The party last night was great except for one thing. My younger sister refused to come downstairs until Josh, my room mate, team mate, and best friend, went up there to get her. There are only two people on my football team that Jessica trusts: me and Josh. It must be because we're the only ones that don't try to hit on her. It's kind of pathetic to me that a bunch of juniors and seniors, with maybe a sophomore thrown in (which isn't too bad), flirts with a fourteen year old girl. Not to mention that her older brother _happens to be on the team. There are two captains on the team, me and Josh. Surprisingly, the team isn't as stupid as some of the jocks in the school, but I have to say that some of the cheerleaders are like the ditzy ones from the stereotypical movies. _

            But anyway, when Jessica finally came down into the living room, she looked extremely uncomfortable. I think she was afraid that Adam would be there. I'm not exactly sure what happened between them because Jess hates to talk about it, but all I _do know is that they hate each other's guts and would be happy if the other fell off the face of the planet. _

            "Glad you could join us, cutie," Williams, from the team, smiled at her.

            "Please, give me a break," she muttered plopping onto the couch near Jesse Hall, a player on the hockey team. 

            "Man if you don't want a pounding, I advise you to stay away," I warned him.

            "Do you want something to eat?" a big guy with brown eyes and brown hair offered her (even though it was her house); he must have been the enforcer. My sister shook her head mumbling, "No thanks." After that, no one talked to her and she seemed content with that. She spent the whole 'party' watching football, actually getting into the game. Then, she switched the channel to some MTV thing that had Nick Carter on it. The guys groaned and Jessica sighed, turning the TV back to ESPN to watch a hockey game. Right before everyone left, I saw Jessica retreat out the back door.

            "Hey," I stepped out onto the deck we had in our backyard. The crowd had finally left and all was quiet again. 

            "Hi," Jessica looked up. She was sitting on the porch swing, her favorite spot. Jessica and I got along really well, especially since our mother started using drugs and alcohol. Before that, we never acknowledged each other's presence. I guess that was one good thing that came out of our mother's abuse. 

            "Do you want to sit?" I heard my sister's voice. I snapped out of my daze and took a seat next to her. We gently rocked the swing back and forth- actually, I rocked it; her legs didn't reach the ground.

            "Is something bothering you?" I asked after a few moments of silence. Jessica was only shy and quiet around people she didn't like (unless she'd known them for a long time. For example: Adam Banks, Barry McGill) or didn't know. Otherwise, she was pretty talkative. Except, that is, when something was bothering her.

            "Jessica?" I prodded. She sighed.

            "Ethan, I can't go to Eden Hall!"

            "Why not? Weren't you excited to go?"

            "Since when?"

            "A few weeks ago."

            "Well a few weeks ago, our mom was abusing us and we weren't related to Adam Banks' coach!" she cried.

            "Can't you just avoid Adam?"

            "I _could do that, but all the other Ducks have it in for me."_

            "They do not have it in for you. That's ridiculous!"

            "No, it's not!"

            "What's not ridiculous?" our…dad (Could I finally call someone dad? Yes!) asked.

            "Uh…" Jessica turned red so I covered for her, "The fact that Jess won't make the JV hockey team at Eden Hall." I wasn't telling a _complete lie. I knew that Jess was pretty nervous about hockey, but not as nervous I made her out to be. Dad's (this is so cool…dad…I liked it) face lit up, "You play hockey?"_

            "Of course! I played for your old team for a few years," she commented boldly.

            "The Hawks?"

            "Yeah!"

            "He let a girl play?"

            "Reilly? We had to tweak some strings, but towards the end I got to play. I played a little in the championship game against you guys."

            "That's cool. Man, I really wish I'd been there for you guys when you were younger."

            "What happened anyway?" I asked. Dad told us how he and our mom got into a huge fight and he'd left her before I was born. Wait a minute. If he left _before I was born, who was Jessica's dad?_

***Haha…I wouldn't leave you at a cliffhanger like that. Actually, I probably would. But the next chapter's too short so I combined these two. Enjoy!**

**Bombay******

****

            I knew I had made a mistake the moment I said that I had left Nancy before Ethan was born. I could see it in their faces, but they weren't mad or anything. Ethan looked confused and Jessica looked a like a lost puppy. 

            "But does that mean…" Ethan trailed off. I nodded, "You and Jessica are only half-siblings." This was met by genuine silence. I looked at each one of them and saw understanding and a look of thanks of each of their faces. I had figured that they wanted to stay together.

            "So…you're not my read dad?" Jessica looked up at me with sad eyes. I nodded reluctantly, not wanted to upset her or Ethan.

            "How come you took me in? How come you didn't dump me with some foster family?"

            "Well, Ethan and you obviously wanted to stay together," I said, finally finding my voice, "And I wanted you to be comfortable." Wordlessly, Jessica stood up and hugged me. Then she retreated to her room.

            "Don't worry about her, she'll be fine." Ethan said from behind me.

            "She's so small and quiet," I observed.

            "Not really," he snorted, "Just you wait until you see her on the ice. Or with her garage band."

            "Garage band?" I had a musically talented kid?

            "Yeah. They're amazing. You have to listen to them sometime." Yes, I really did have a talented kid!

            "Beep beep!" my cell phone rang. Ethan excused himself to shower and left to let me answer my call. Despite the short conversation, one thing was clear. Jessica was someone who needed motivation and a little extra push. 


	9. Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: I know some of you have been asking about Jessica's next chapter. It's in the next chapter that I might even post today as well.**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: **Jesse's good-bye

**Adam**

****

            That night, everyone arrived at six. Teresa took their jackets and made sure nothing in the house was broken. Jesse was the first guest to arrive because he came back to my house with me after we hung-out some more in the later afternoon.

            "Damn, Bank!" was all Averman had to say when he stepped into my house. Fulton, Averman, Julie, Guy, Connie, Russ, Dwayne, Goldberg, Kenny, and Luis had never set foot inside my house before that day. I let Averman into the house with the rest of the team and my mom led them into the living room where most of the party would take place. Hopefully.

            "You guys have to see the rest of the house!" Charlie told them.

            "Yeah," Jesse was nodding his head vigorously now, "Show them cake-eater!" I looked to my mom, who had never been around any of my friends except for Jesse and Charlie.

            "Go ahead. I just ask one thing," she smiled, "Don't break anything. Adam's dada is sensitive about that kind of stuff," then to me she whispered, "Cake-eater? Nice nickname sweetie." I blushed furiously and quickly led my friends into the den. By the time we got to the bedrooms, everyone was awed and eager to see more.

            "This is one of the four guest rooms. It's out of two of the smaller ones," I told them.

            "Small? This is small?!" Dwayne exclaimed.

            "That's about the size of the master room at my house! Maybe even bigger!" Fulton cried out.

            "Moving right along," I said, not wanting to comment on what was just said, "The bigger guestroom." There must have been a magical spell in that room because the moment they saw it, even Averman shut up. Which wasn't an easy task to do, shutting Averman up. 

            The party was great and I had a blast. Of course, all good things come to an end, which meant that night turned into morning and soon, Mrs. Hall was honking her car horn ready to leave town. We had been up for a few hours already and when the car horn sounded, happy chatter and laughter stopped. Suddenly the happiness faded away from the previous night. We all looked at Jesse who had a half-eaten pancake in his mouth. He swallowed slowly and bit his lip. Unhurriedly, Jesse rose from his chair and picked up his duffel bag. We all followed him outside in a slumber. He loaded his things into the trunk of the car as Terry jumped out. He said good-bye to all of us, but I wasn't paying attention. The reality of what was happening hit me full force. Jesse was leaving. My best friend wasn't going to be there anymore.

            "Hey cake-eater," Jesse finally got to saying good-bye to me, "Don't forget to tell me everything, got it?"

            "Definitely. And you too, go it?" I smiled.

            "Yeah," we shared a smile again.

            "So we'll be seeing each other over the holidays?"

            "You better believe it! You're not getting rid of me _that_ easily."  
            "Funny…"

            "Don't you go your own preppy way and get too preppy at that prep school, alright Adam?" he used my first name, something I hardly ever heard anymore.

            "I'll try my best. And you don't forget about me, the poor prep boy stuck here, alright?"

            "Yeah." We hugged and I felt my eyes start to blur. Jesse's eyes were getting misty as well when we pulled away.

            "Bye." We said at the same time. The Ducks shouted one last good-bye before Jesse took off.

            "Hey Jesse!" I called out, despite the shakiness in my voice. He stuck his head out of the window, "Yeah?"

            "Kick some butt up there! Maybe some Hawk butt!" he laughed and waved as he drove away. And just like that, Jesse was gone. And without my best friend, I felt empty. Like I was from the living dead.

            "Hawk butt?" Charlie broke into my thoughts.

            "Some old Hawks live there now," I started walking into my backyard. Silence followed me for a minute before I saw any Ducks following me. I sat on the bench beside the small pond we had.

            "Take a seat," I told the others, indicating the free space on the bench and grass. They all sat. Finally, someone spoke.

            "So what do you want to do?" Charlie asked. Julie looked at her watch, "It's getting late. It's 10 AM. The orientation's at 4:30 this afternoon. I have to get ready."

            "Yeah," Dwayne, Ken, and Russ said at the same time. So they split. Fulton left in disgust after the orientation was brought up because Portman wasn't going to Eden Hall. Most likely, he'd be heading to his alley. Charlie remembered suddenly that he had to spend time with his mom before he left for school. Goldberg had to visit his mom's deli because his grandmother was visiting for awhile, plus he had to help out a little. So the only people left were me, Guy, Connie, and Averman.

            "So what do you wanna do?" Guy asked.

            "I dunno what do you wanna do Goldberg?" Connie turned to Goldberg. We were all laying on the grass now.

            "I dunno, what do you wanna do, Banksie?"

Everyone looked at me. I sighed, "I dunno, what do you wanna do Guy?"

This was going to be a long day. 

***Please Review! (Next chapter's coming today too)***


	10. Jessica

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language **_especially in this chapter_** and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: Here's Jessica's chapter! Thanks for the reviews, especially to duckslover99 for sticking with me all the way!**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: **Hockey try-outs

**Jessica**

****

            I sat in my seat inside the huge auditorium of Eden Hall Academy. I sat behind a bunch of big guys with red and white jackets. From the way they were talking to some of the Ducks that had arrived, I assumed they were Varsity. The dean started blabbing and I tuned him out. He was introducing the Ducks when the curtain fell and the heap of people underneath emerged in a tangle of roller-blades and teenagers. It was the rest of the Ducks. I had to laugh at the way Captain Duck acted. _'Wait a minute, Jessica. Wait a minute. He's not that bad. It's _Adam_ you're mad at.' Shaking my head, I thought about my other friends._

            Aaron King, an old Hawk, Tori Montgomery, and Jordan Knight got together with me and Danny one day. We made a band collectively because all five of us had a great interest in music. Not just instrumental, I mean vocal and dancing too when I say we made a band. We've played for little kid's birthdays, singing and dancing to other bands and musical artists. We played a few instrumentals too. Aaron played the guitar, Tori played drums, Jordan played bass along with Danny, and I also played guitar. We split up the vocal parts evenly. We could all play each other's instruments so it was no problem if we needed to switch instruments for the purpose of the vocal parts. Each of us has written songs before and we all learned how to play them as well as songs by other musical talents. We were Reality.

            The clatter of chairs startled me out of my thoughts. I slowly got up and headed to hockey try-outs. 

            "Jessica Bombay?" I turned when I heard my name called and faced a growing man with Coach on the back of a jacket that said Eden Hall Varsity Hockey on the front. I assumed that he was the Varsity coach.

            "Yes? That's me," I responded politely. 

            "Good. Come with me." I followed the coach into a big locker room. He turned to me and said, "Get suited up. Try-outs have been moved here instead since the JV won't be practicing today. The other freshmen are already on the ice." I nodded and followed instructions, slightly baffled. As soon as I hit the ice, coach blew the whistle. The sixteen kids trying out, including myself, clustered in front of the coach.

            "Welcome to Varsity try-outs," we gasped. This was supposed to be JV! But he continued, "We only have two spots on the team left. There are no JV try-outs. Our JV team is the former Ducks." So _that_ was why the Ducks weren't there!

            "30 laps, let's go!" I got up and started on my laps, keeping at a steady pace so I wouldn't tire out too quickly. JV only had to do 20, so I read in the manual, but I was used to rough training so it wasn't so hard for me. A few minutes later, I had finished my laps and taken a seat to wait for the others. We scrimmaged and drilled countless amount of times before Coach Wilson, that was his name, let us go. I showered and dressed by myself with people murmuring around me, looking at me. Finally, one of them approached me, "You're really good!" he said. I looked at him and smiled, "Thanks, so are you!" In reality, I hadn't been watching the guy except during the scrimmage. He was on my team. He was pretty good, actually.

            Coach Wilson came in after a few moments and said, "After discussing things with the JV coach, Coach Orion, we decided that only 1 of you made it. I saw pretty good performances out there, but most of it was JV work. I saw two outstanding performances out there, though, that were capable of Varsity. But sadly, only one made the cut." Did I mention I was the only girl to try-out? All the guys were staring at him expectantly, glancing at me momentarily, making me uncomfortable. My heart was racing because I had this feeling that Coach Wilson was leaning on the sexist side when it came to hockey. 

            "I thought two were going to make it, Coach!" the boy I had just been talking to said.

            "There are two," Coach replied, "But one of them is from the JV team. Congratulations, Jessica Bombay. You made Varsity with Adam Banks." I dropped everything I was holding. It was so weird. I was filled with excitement and disappointment at the same time. I swallowed and smiled, feigning pure excitement, "Oh my god! Thanks so much!"

            "You deserve it. First practice tomorrow at 5 AM sharp. You'll meet the rest of the team. I hope you don't mind if they're guys. I must warn you, some of them aren't the brightest bulb in the pack," Coach Wilson smiled at me. I nodded, smiling softly, and left the locker room. I headed to my new dorm, finding that I had the whole room to myself. I plopped onto the bed and sighed. This was going to make me crazy. Finally not able to take it without blowing up, I grabbed the key and headed to my brother's room. Ethan gave me the number of his room, plus there were bulletin/chalk boards outside of every room with the name of the occupants. 

            "Who is it?" Josh, Ethan's room-mate, called when I knocked.

            "It's Jess!" I told him. A few moments later, the door swung open and Josh invited me in.

            "Ethan's in the shower," he said. I nodded and sat on my brother's bed, bouncing. I must of dozed off because the next thing I knew, Ethan was shaking me, "Jess, get up sis." I groaned and opened my eyes a little.

            "We have to go to dinner now," he told me. I got up and smoothed my hair out, following Ethan and Josh out the door.

            "So how do you like Eden Hall so far?" one of the football players asked as I slipped into a chair next to Ethan.

            "I've only been here for a few hours," I replied wryly.

            "What do you think _so far, _he said," Josh pointed out. I stuck my tongue out at him and he just laughed.

            "How were hockey try-outs?" Ethan asked. I shrugged.

            "Did you make the team?"

            "Not JV," I said simply.

            "Why not? You're amazing!" Josh exclaimed.

            "Don't worry, keep your pants on," I rolled my eyes, "I made Varsity." There was general silence due to shock after that.

            "VARSITY?!" They all said together.

            "That's right," someone said from behind. We all turned around to see Riley, the captain of the team, surrounded by the rest of the team, including Adam.

            "Congratulations!" the football team turned to me.

I shrugged, "Thanks."

            "Jess, come eat with us," Riley said, beckoning to me. I got up, following the team and said a quick good-bye to Ethan.

            "Jessica Bombay, Adam Banks. Welcome to Varsity," Riley smiled seating us next to each other, "There are a few simple…_rules_ on this team. Labine?" A guy perked up, "Yeah?"

            "Rule #1?"

            "Oh! Since you are friends with the JV, you can't tell them any pranks during the prank war." Prank war? What prank war? What was a prank war? And friends with the JV team? Maybe Adam still was, but I sure as hell wasn't.

            "Kabine?"

            "Rule #2," another guy said, "You have to wear either your Warrior jacket or Warrior sweatshirt everyday." That, at least, was doable. It was kind of silly to make a rule like that, but it was a simple one to follow. I could deal with that. 

            "Cole?"

            "Rule #3," Cole thought for a moment, "Rule #3 is you must show full loyalty to the Varsity team!" he seemed a little too proud that he remembered it.

            "Scooter?"

            "Rule #4, the last and final rule, you must be present at all JV games with the team and you must be at all social functions with the team and if you have a date, the date can come."

            "Got it?" Riley looked at us. I glanced at Adam, who nodded slowly so I did the same. Riley smiled and started eating.

            Hockey practice wasn't so hard at all. I mean it _was_ challenging, but one good thing that I came away with from Coach Riley was that there was no such thing as "hard", just challenging. If you didn't feel extremely worked out, you weren't challenging yourself, which was the only theory Coach Reilly ever taught me that actually helped.

            "You're really good, both of you," Scooter said to me and Adam after practice. Incidentally, our lockers ended up next to each other. Fun, fun.

            "Thanks," we mumbled.

            "You guys were Hawks, right?" Kabine asked. We nodded so he continued, "Do you guys know Zak Hill?" We both froze and looked at him.

            "We'll take that as a yes…" Cole said.

            "He was a good goalie," I offered.

            "Maybe," Adam retorted looking straight at me, "But a horrible person."

            "He was not! You're just jealous because Zak had a way with the girls, but you never did!" I yelled at him.

            "What?! Me? Jealous of Zak Hill? Yeah, right," Adam yelled back, "He's a freaking' pansy! He used to be afraid of hockey players coming at him!"

            "So? You would be too!"

            "Me? _You would run screaming to your fucking brother!"_

            "You'd run to your half-assed father!"

            "STOP!" Scooter stepped in between us. Our argument wasn't even about Zak anymore (I didn't even know why I was defending him); it was personal.

            "Bitch," Adam said venomously to me before he turned to leave.

            "Asshole." I spat to his back before I retreated out the other door. I'm sure we left the Varsity hockey team with a great first impression.

            "Hey, Jess! How was practice?" Ethan asked as I passed him in the courtyard.

           "Fine," I said shortly leaving as fast as possible. I already decided that this school wasn't that great. In fact, I hated it. But it couldn't get any worse. Too bad I was wrong. Again. 

***PLEASE REVIEW!!***


	11. Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! We're back to Adam's POV, next is Jessica's again.**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: **So the war begins…

**Adam**

****

            "I made Varsity?" I walked backwards until I hit a bench. _'Varsity…' was all that echoed through my head. Well, my dad would be happy. None of the Ducks even paid attention to what I was saying. Charlie wasn't captain anymore. Now that was a horror that I thought I'd never see. That evening, Riley (the captain) took me to the Varsity table to eat with them, only to find that Jessica made Varsity too. I suppressed a groan as Riley started listing the rules. I was barely even paying attention, longing for the Ducks to come to my rescue like they always did. But they never came. _

            "Banks, you'll be rooming with Cole," Riley patted my shoulder, "Jessica, as you already know, you get your own room." So I didn't have a first name on this team either. And once again, Jessica was the princess. My life sucked, I decided. We'd had another argument in the locker room, ending with me stomping out and her storming out the other way. 

            That night, I had trouble sleeping. First of all, Cole snored like you wouldn't believe it. Second of all, I hadn't spoken to the Ducks all day and I wanted to see what was going on. Tossing and turning, I finally gave up on sleep. Getting out of bed, I tip-toed to the bathroom, careful not to wake Cole. He scared me even though he was stupid as hell. I looked at myself in the mirror and tried to figure out what I really wanted. Of course I wanted to be with the Ducks, but playing with Varsity was a real challenge and challenges were good for me. But which did I want more?

            I must have stood there for almost an hour, battling with myself about the pros and cons of each choice I had. I wished fiercely that I could be on Varsity _and be friends with the Ducks. But Varsity already rubbed off on them the wrong way and vice versa. I was positive that Riley might be _slightly_ angry that I was still talking to JV._

            "Do you know what time it is?" a groggy Cole stood at the door that I had forgotten to close.

            "Oh sorry, did I wake you?" I asked him, kind of scared.

            "Nah…but nature's calling. Can I go?"

            "Oh! Yeah." I moved out of the way, leaving the bathroom. I really wanted to be on Varsity. But was it really worth it? To live my entire high school life without friends? Turning over to face the wall on my bed, I tried not to think about the Ducks or Varsity. Jessica popped into my head, which wasn't much better. 

            She had started our argument that afternoon. If Jessica hadn't said anything about Zak, the Varsity team wouldn't know we had a problem. I wondered if she and Zak were even going out still. I decided that I didn't care, but in the back of my head, I knew that I did. I personally hoped they broke up. It was definitely better for Jessica to get rid of him. There was something fishy with Zak Hill and I'd placed that a long time ago, but I couldn't figure out what. I just felt that Jess could do much better, like she had more potential. But then again, that was what started our cold war. Needless to say, I got very little sleep that night.

            A week later, one of the Ducks finally approached me and Jesse finally replied to my long e-mail. I had been sitting at the ever envied Varsity table at breakfast with Scooter, Labine, and Kabine, the only three I really liked on the team. Coincidentally, we'd been talking about the JV game that night when Charlie approached us. Jessica sat down next to Scooter at the same exact time and smiled at everyone, but didn't meet my glare. There was something different about her that I'd never seen two years ago when we were still friends. But I couldn't figure out what.

            "Hey Scooter, Labine, Kabine…Jessica. Um, Banks?" Charlie asked apprehensively.

            "Hey Spaz, what's up?" I asked as if there wasn't anything wrong or different between us even though there was.

            "We, the team, wanted to know if you're coming to the game tonight."

            "The whole team's coming to watch you defend Eden Hall against Blake. We'll be cheering our "little bro…sibling" team. It's only right. Good luck, by the way," Riley said from behind Jessica, setting his tray down next to hers.

            "All of you?"

            "All of us. Are you problems?"

            "No funny business?"(A/N: This next part doesn't fit in with the movie. It's out of order, but I can't fix it so we'll just have to go with the flow. That's ok right? Okay.) Yeah, a prank war had been unofficially declared between the JV team and the Varsity team. I had just found out about Varsity burning JV's clothing via Guy yelling, on a rage, that morning. No one on either team bothered to tell me about the pranks. Varsity didn't tell Jessica either and JV gave her and me the worst treatment. Personally, I'd learned to detach myself from it and look as if I didn't care. Jessica always showed a blank face, devoid of any emotion. She was pretty good at it, I had to admit.

            "Just watching," Riley confirmed with his signature annoying smirk, bringing me back to reality.

Charlie turned to me, "Banks?"

            "I'll be there," I spoke up for the first time in a while. 

            "Okay. Later!" Charlie left, shooting Riley a glance as he was walking away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Riley turned to the rest of us, "Cole, did you study for Edmonton's test today?" Riley was an A-student, therefore in A-classes, but he wasn't in them for history. That's why Cole was in his class.

            "Test? What test?" Cole asked dumbly.

I covered up my laugh by coughing and turning towards Scooter. I knew Cole hadn't studied. The night before, he'd spent half of it asking me about math homework that he had. The other half, he'd spent watching TV.

            "Banksie, did Cold study for the test?" Riley turned to me.

            "No," I choked out. Lately I had become Cole's study guide, study keeper, for Riley.

            "Damn. Well, we'll have to study during study hall then."

            The only two classes I had with the Ducks were history and music. I had been _privileged enough to be put into A-classes with Jessica. That's what happens when your parents are perfect freaks. Not that I don't want to be in A-classes. __'You're just going in circles, Adam.' I shook my head and cleared all thoughts before confusing myself even more than I already had._

            "Banksie! Bombay! Over here!" Riley called out. It was before the game and the team was standing by the JV locker room. You couldn't really miss them because they were a big mass of red and white jackets and sweatshirts. Jessica and I went down to the game together, but hadn't spoken a word to each other.

            "Okay," Riled said, "When you two walk in the halls together, pretend to like each other even though I know you hate each other." WHAT?

            "Why?" Jessica asked.

            "Because on Varsity, you're supposed to be like one big happy family." 

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever," I heard the game starting inside, "Can we go?"

            "One minute, Banksie. Scooter, why don't you take the two freshmen over to the refreshments?" Riley suggested. Scooter nodded and led us over.

            "What are they doing?" Jessica asked Scooter as she watched the rest of the team enter the JV locker room. 

            "They're playing a prank," Scooter responded uneasily.

            "And you're going to stand here and let them?!" Jessica and I said at the same time. Scooter smiled with amusement before saying, "Look, Riley's captain. I have to do whatever he wants. Whatever Riley says, goes; it's just the way it is around here. My little sister and my little bother both lost spots on JV too because of them. They're not as outraged as Riley's brother, but they are a little pissed off."

            "Oh," was all we said. We left the refreshment stand without buying anything, a sinking feeling in my stomach. Meeting the rest of the team by the rink entrance, we went in.

            When the Ducks shot their first goal, I stood up clapping until Riley pushed me down giving me a look. The smile disappeared from my face and Scooter patted me on the shoulder. I saw Jessica stop clapping when Cole shot a glare at her. I shifted uncomfortablely in my seat and took a look at the JV Coach who was screaming his head off at the team. The game ended in a tie, a disappointment to everyone as they thought the JV Duc…I mean Warriors would get the Bears for sure. We headed back to the dorms together to quickly get ready for our game that was soon taking place.

            "Okay team! This is the first game of the season. Let's blow those Bears away and prove that JV was just warming up when they played their JV team. Let's show them that when Warriors play, Warriors play hard! Riley, Cole, Brown, Kart, Labine get on out there and show them _real_ hockey. Banks, Bombay you'll get your chance today in the third period okay?" Wilson addressed before the game. We nodded.

            "On three 'Go team' One, two, three!"

            "GO TEAM!" We thundered and our starters took the ice. 

            The game passed uneventfully with us scoring countless goals on the Blake Bears Varsity team, much like JV had done. But this time, we didn't slow down or get overconfident.

            "Banks, get out there! Bombay, sub in for Kabine, let's go!" Wilson called at the beginning of the third period. I nodded, pulling my helmet mask over my face. I felt like all eyes were on me as I took center ice. When the ref dropped the puck, I won the face-off, hip checking the other center at the same time. Riley claimed the puck, passing it to Kart who got checked into the boards. Scooter saved a shot and Brown cleared it from the goal, passing it off to me. I was getting into the game and didn't notice that no Warriors were present until I was being closed off by three Bears. Behind me, Jessica was open so I faked a pass to my right where Riley was being covered by players and passed back to her. Jessica sprinted with the puck up to the goal, me following her. She stopped, spraying ice everywhere, and I took the puck, putting it into the net during the mass confusing of ice spraying. The buzzer went off and Warrior fans cheered. Warriors 16, Bears 5 was the final score.

            Happily, the team headed to the locker room talking about highlights of the game. But just as suddenly as our happiness came, it vanished. Our locker room was ice. Not just ice cold kind of ice with a chill. It was more like everything in the room was physically frozen. Cole lightly tapped his ice block of a Varsity jacket with his hockey stack. Two slight taps were all it took before the jacket fell to the floor, shattering to pieces. It wasn't any kind of ice; it was liquid nitrogen.

***Please review!!***


	12. Jessica

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Especially to duckslover99, who seems to be the only one who's actually reading this. IS ANYONE OUT THERE READING MY STORY?!?! *silence* guess not…**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Jessica and the pranks that she didn't know about. What else is there to say?**

**Jessica**

****

            I looked around the locker room at the winter wonderland JV had pretty cleverly made, shocked. Riley clenched his fists trying to contain his uncontainable anger as Cole pointed to the shaving cream sign, '_VARSITY SUCKS ICE'. _Obviously, that didn't work. He smashed his own jacket to pieces with his own fist after saying menacingly, "Ducks." It was such a simple word, holding so much contempt. 

            Numbly, I walked to my locker in the back. Looking over at Adam's lover next to mine, I noticed that his locker was the worst. Everyone watched as Adam carefully opened his locker door. But no matter how careful he was, even the hinge on the locker handle broke off. Biting my lip, I hoped that my locker wasn't as bad as his. Inside my locker, I discovered that my belongings were all frozen. When I picked up my sports bag, I accidentally slipped, causing a loud band on the floor. Everyone turned from their own freezers to see what happened.

            "Sorry," I picked my clothes up from the mess of shattered sports bag, which I had packed into my bag before going onto the ice. However, my Varsity jacket was frozen like everyone else's. Wilson barged in to see what the hold up was, probably ready to yell at us for taking so long. He stopped already knowing what it was.

            "The prank war has started," he muttered, "Well, how many jackets are already smashed?"

            "Three," Riley told him.

            "Whose were they?"

            "Mine, Cole's, Banksie's."

            "I'll get new ones for you. As for the rest of you, hand 'em over. I'll fix it. First thing tomorrow, you'll come get it, okay?" He came around and took our jackets, shaking his head when he saw Adam's locker. We all left the locker room to melt itself and went to our dorms, still in uniform, holding our clothes in a heap.

            As soon as I got into my room, I jumped into the shower. I didn't understand this prank war business at all. Varsity and JV were supposed to get along better than any other group of people. Varsity was supposed to help JV and JV was supposed to get accommodated with the Varsity. I guess Eden Hall's JV and Varsity accommodate each other in a whole new way. 

            "Hey Jess, are you in there or have you died?" A knock came at the door.

            "Give me a minute!" I yelled, stopping the shower and wrapping a towel around myself. I opened the door a crack to see who it was.

            "Oh so you _are alive," Ethan laughed._

            "Oh it's you," I pretended to be disappointed.

            "Who were you expecting?"

            "Prince Charming to sweep me off my feet!" I exclaimed dramatically.

            "Is your hockey team good enough?" Ethan stepped away, revealing Riley and the guys. I opened the door all the way to let them in, still dripping wet and blushing furiously.

            "Hey, Jess. How are you doing?" one guy asked, looking me up and down. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a few things off my bed, heading to the bathroom to get dressed. 

            When I came out, I flopped onto my bed where Ethan was already sitting, "What's up?"

            "I heard about the prank they pulled. That's harsh, man."

            "First of all, I'm not even close to a man. Second of all, did you hear of the prank we pulled on _them?_"

            "Yeah I did." I shrugged and laid my head on Ethan's lap. 

            "We need to get them back," Riley stated.

            "We do?" I asked.

            "Yes we do."

            "Where's Adam?" I asked them.

            "We can't tell him. He's going to tell them what we have planned."

            "How do you know? Are you questioning the loyalty of a fellow Warrior?" I challenged, not even understanding why in hell I was defending Adam Banks of all people, "Never mind. Go on." Riley went on to explain our plan, but I fell asleep before he even started. Right before I drifted off into dreamland, oblivious to all that was going on around me, I felt Ethan move a little and then I heard Riley say, "Maybe its best if she doesn't know."

            "Then can you guys leave and not use her room as a meeting? I have to go, later, guys," Ethan commented. I ignored it all and let myself fall into oblivion.

            "BEEP! BEEP!" the never-ending sound of my alarm clock rang. I groggily slapped the snooze button muttering, "Shut the hell up!" and noticed that someone had put me under my covers. When the clock rang again, I rolled over to face the clock and turned it off, knocking it to the floor.

            "Stupid hockey practice; get me up so damn early," I grumbled, getting out of bed. The phone rang, startling me out of my thoughts and waking me up just a little more.

            "Hello?" I mumbled.

            "Hey…dad, what's up?" Although I was truly grateful that he took me in with Ethan, I wasn't entirely comfortable calling him dad yet.

            "Ethan told about you making Varsity awhile ago and I never got to congratulate you. I'm very proud of you! Listen, I was watching the game last night. You need to strive for more, drive yourself so that you see more game time. Fight for the puck, do extra laps at practice, whatever you need to do."

            "Okay. I got to go to practice now. I'll talk to you later."

            "Okay, bye."

            "Buh-bye." I hung-up and sighed. What if I didn't _want_ to see more game time? What if I'd rather warm the bench? What if I just wanted to quit and concentrate on the band and performing for people? What if I just wanted out?! But I didn't want to disappoint my dad so pushing all negative thoughts out of my mind, I marched down to the rink. I didn't want to be late for practice. 

***Sorry it's short and sorry for the long wait! Please Review!***


	13. Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Especially to duckslover99, who seems to be the only one who's actually reading this. IS ANYONE OUT THERE READING MY STORY?!?! *silence* guess not…**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Adam gets back in touch with old friends and the Brazilian Fire Ants. **

**Adam**

            After the little show in the locker room, everything went downhill. I'm not even going to start on the dinner that we 'gave' them. The look in Charlie's eyes when he came to back to campus and I saw him outside was indescribable. All I knew was that I'd have to work 100 times as hard to get our friendship back. And hopefully, he'd listen to me when I did try. Somehow, I knew it was wishful thinking though.  I retreated to my room, trying to get there before Cole. Cole stuck his head in the room about ten minutes after I did and told me he'd be back. I nodded, logging onto my screen-name on the computer. I hadn't gotten a chance to read Jesse's reply to my e-mail yet. There was another e-mail from Danny Larson that I had yet to as well. I sighed and clicked on Jesse's e-mail first.

            _From: Jduck99_

_            To: cake_eater99_

_            Subject: Hi_

_Hey Banksie!_

_            Glad you decided to keep that e-mail I gave you *sniff* so honored, so honored. Anyway, congratulations on making Varsity! I hope the Ducks don't hate you. I mean, I love the Ducks, but they're like a clique, you'd know wouldn't you? So man, how _is_ Varsity anyway? Charlie said they're all jerks who suck, but I'm not sure they're that bad. Jessica made it too? Man, that sucks!_

_            This new town isn't that bad at all. There's no serious hockey team here; just a bunch of kids and a coach out to have fun together. It's tight over here, the kids would love you…once they got over your cake-eater preppy bastard looks! Lol…I'm just playin'. But enough about me, what about you?_

_            If I know anyone the best, I know you. You don't sound happy, even in the e-mail. Have you opened up? Talk to me, man…well ttyl! =P_

_-Jesse_

I sighed and wished I could be there with him instead of in this school. Clicking on the reply button, I wondered if Jesse wanted to hear my _whole _story or not.

            _From: cake_eater99_

_            To: Jduck9_

_            Subject: Re: Hi_

_Hey Jesse,_

_            Thanks (about Varsity). Varsity isn't that bad, to tell you the truth. JV and varsity just started off bad, if you ask me. The guys are actually pretty nice, even Riley, the captain. Well, when he wants to be Riley will be nice. If you sit with them everyday and spend almost all your free time with them, you'll see they're decent guys when they're around anyone but the JV team. Except for Jessica, who's a girl and NOT decent at all. The Ducks…eh, I wouldn't know what to tell you honestly. They don't really talk to me anymore and I don't sit with them at meal times anymore. _

_            That means I haven't exactly had much of a chance to…open up to them *sigh* I only have history and music with them and they don't talk to me at all. They're too busy planning revenge on Varsity. We have a prank war going on right now. You're lucky you're not here for that sole reason. I didn't even know about the prank we pulled on the JV until _after_ we pulled it. I'm sure Charlie'll tall you all about our prank. I'm still not sure what it was exactly._

_            Well anyway, in return, they froze _everything_ in our locker room with liquid nitrogen. Ask Charlie about that one too. But then the team came up with the bright idea to pretend to take JV out to dinner as a tradition and make them pay for it. Obviously, they didn't know and I _didn't know until after I left the restaurant with Varsity. So you see, the Ducks aren't focusing on our friendship as of right now. I gotta go, room-mate…ugh!__

_-Adam_

I quickly hit the send button as Cole walked in through the door.

            "You don't sleep much, do you?" Cole asked with a smile. I shrugged.

            "What time is it?" I asked.

            "Almost midnight."

            "You don't sleep much either."

            "Nah, don't need it."

            "Did you do your homework?"

            "Yeah…I think." I rolled my eyes and opened Danny's e-mail from his new address.

            _From: LadiesMan64_

_            To: cake_eater99_

_            Subject: What's up?_

_Hey Adam,_

_            Like my new screen-name? I got sick of Hawkpuck64…well I'm not a Hawk anymore…thank the lord! _

__I had to smile at that. We used to all have Hawk screen-names, being the egotistical guys we were. Mine used to be centerhawk99, stupid, I know.

_Anyway, how are you man? It's so boring here!! Congrats on Varsity, I knew you'd make it! Remember Aaron King?_

Did I ever! He'd totally taken McGill's side as soon as I became a Duck. He completely disregarded our friendship almost immediately!

_I know he was rotten to you, but he's changed a lot…for the better. He goes here along with Shane Ryder. Everyone else either goes to another private school near you friend Jesse's school or they actually go to Jesse's school. _

_            Hey, Jessica told me about the big blow-up between you two. I'm not taking sides, I told this too, because I'm not about to lose a friend here. Are you alright though? If you need to talk, I'm here. Just don't kill yourself over this situation, it's not worth it. Later!_

_-Danny_

I hesitated before replying to him. I knew that he and Jessica were close so I didn't want to say anything incredibly bad about her. Cole had already left again so I was free to bitch about anything I wanted to. But in the time it took to think about what to write, I didn't notice the many Brazilian Fire Ants that had been let into my room…until they bit me. 

            "AHH!!!" I screamed, jumping out of my chair. Since I was barefoot, I had a hard time getting to my door without that sinking feeling I squashed a few. I shook my door knob while trying to get a few off of my face. I tripped and fell with a huge bang as a few ants got into my hair. The door swung open and I scrambled out, meeting the rest of the team scratching and screaming as well. I looked up and saw the JV team laughing hysterically at us…at _me. Charlie stopped for a second, meeting my glance with ice cold anger before breaking out in a hysterical fit of laughter as I shook a few more ants out of my hair, diving for the hallway bathroom. Riley had challenged JV to an unofficial match the next morning._

            After we all cleaned ourselves up, we headed back to our dorms for another hour and a half of sleep. But Cole was outsider, withering and tied up. If Riley wasn't there, I would have burst out laughing. WE eventually got him untied and when I stood up, my breath stopped. The entire team followed my gaze and Jessica turned white as a sheet.

            "Hey Jessie, baby…can we talk?" Zak Hill stepped forward.

            "I-I don't have anything to say to you,' she replied coldly. I couldn't help but smile triumphantly. They _didn't_ last! I was right! And Jessica was single now…I stopped myself there.

            "But I do! Jess, I love you. Please…just hear me out," he actually looked sincere.

            "Why can't you say it in front of these guys?"

            "I need time to talk to you alone, please?"

Jessica sighed, "Fine. Just give me a minute to get my jacket and stuff."

            "We won't be long, you don't need it. Besides, it's not cold," he smiled sweetly at her. Too sweetly. Jess bit her lip and pasted a smile on her face, "Okay then…"

            "Great! Hey Banks, what's up?"

            "H-hey…" I stammered. I had a bad feeling about this guy. Zak took Jess by the arm and led her outside. She cast a look over her shoulder, as if she was almost…afraid and pleading for help.

            "Does anyone else have a bad feeling about him?" Riley asked after watching them leave.

            "Yeah…let's go follow them," Scooter suggested.

            "What do you think Adam?" They all turned to me. I shrugged, "I don't know."

            "Adam," Try Brown, who had witnessed a fair share of arguments, turned to me, "This isn't about some stupid argument or fight between the two of you anymore. This guy looks and seems really dangerous!"

            "Yes, it is," I snapped, "This is what our fight was…is about! Zak Hill! Of course he's dangerous!"

            "Well then, what do you say?" Riley asked.

            "Fine, let's go," I grumbled.

            After a few minutes of walking, we heard an all too familiar scream. It was Jessica.


	14. Jessica

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! **

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Well…you'll see just how bad Zak Hill is.**

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED R FOR LANGUAGE AND ABUSE IN WHICH YOU WILL FIND OUT AS YOU READ SO BE CAREFUL! **

**Jessica**

            I was so scared. Zak Hill terrified me. As he gripped my arm tighter and tighter, we got deeper and deeper into the campus forest.

            "Zak, what are we going in here for? I thought we were just talking?" I asked him quietly.

            "I have stuff to do," he grunted.

            "Zak?"

            "What do you want bitch?"

            "You're hurting me," I said weakly, wincing at his grip.

            "Too fucking bad."

            "I'm cold," I tried desperately, "Can we go back inside?"

            "No," he pushed me against a tree, "We'll stay right here." I slid into a seat position and Zak pushed me onto my back. He bent down and kissed my forehead, "I missed this, babe."

            "Zak, please. I told you no more, stop," I pleaded. He silenced me with a punch in the stomach. I groaned and he roughly kissed me while he had the chance, hands underneath my shirt. Pulling away, I got really desperate,             "Please…stop…I…" he kissed me hard and I felt blood in my mouth. Zak pulled away for a moment to yank my shirt off of me before I could push him away, punching me again in case I was going to scream.

            I was wearing a cami-tank so there was no bra. I started crying now and Zak slapped me. Biting down hard on my lip, I tried to silence myself. While I was doing this, Zak took the opportunity to yank my pants down and cup his hands around my breast. With hi tongue first, he licked my nipples, then sucked on them. I wanted disparately for someone to come and rescue me. He had unbuttoned his pants and pulled down his boxers by now. 

            "Come one, Jess, baby, you're getting' me hard," he whispered roughly. I slapped him, an action I sorely regretted. His eyes flashed dangerously and he slugged me a few times, yanking my underwear down too. I bit back salty tears and a cry as he forced my head down and mouth open. Pushing me, he forcefully made me lick his cock and when he came, it sprayed all over me. I wanted to die right about then. But Zak wasn't done with me yet. He yanked me up and thrust himself within me without warning. I screamed loudly in pain and in horror. In all the times that he'd pushed me to do this, he'd never gone all the way for fear of getting in trouble. 

            "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he yelled, thrusting again and again. I felt blood dripping down my legs and someone cleared their throat. Zak looked up in terror to find the Varsity hockey team ready to beat the shit out of him. But I couldn't even smile in happiness because the pain was unbearable and I realized that I was naked. I collapsed to my knees and painfully searched for my shirt, tears pouring down my face. An arm offered a shirt and I accepted gratefully, looking up to see who it was. A shirtless Adam looked down at me, concern evident in his eyes. He sat and wrapped his strong, safe arms around me, pulling the shirt over my head as I crumpled, hysterically crying. Riley was busy with Zak and so were Trey Brown, Nelson Kabine, and Eric Labine. Scooter and Ryan Kart had run to get somebody to help.

            "You have no right to mess with her!" Riley was screaming. Before Zak said anything, Nelson continued.

            "She doesn't deserve it you bastard, nobody does!"

            "If we _ever EVER see you near her again…" Eric said with threat in his voice._

            "Let's just say you'd better hope we don't," Trey finished. Zak tried running away, but Riley held him and other's surrounded him. 

            "One word and Cole here will give it to you," Riley told him in a menacing undertone. So Zak kept his mouth shut. 

            Scooter came running back with a wet towel, gently placing it between my legs. I was still crying and it still hurt and I really wished that I was anyone but myself. I didn't really hear what Dean Buckley had to say when he came to the scene, but Zak was taken away. Nobody said a word for awhile. Adam still had his arms around me, protecting me from everything and I was really grateful. 

            "Jess, go back and sleep," Scooter suggested. 

            I shook my head and said shakily, "No I want to play against the JV."

            "But--"

            "I'm fine. I was just scared, that's all."   

            "I would be too," Eric agreed. If the situation weren't so serious, I would've laughed.

            "When are you supposed to get…you know…" Cole started uneasily. Adam finished, "your period?"

            "I just finished it two days ago," I told them.

            "Good."           

            "Yeah." We headed back to our dorms to get ready for the game, but I became sleepy and tired and changed my mind about playing. I called Riley to tell him and he didn't object. 

            I didn't get much sleep though. I was afraid to close my eyes; afraid that I'd dream about what happened. Another thing was Adam. At that point, the relationship between us was hard to determine. It was clear that he didn't hate me and I didn't hate him. Our "right" kind of wore off and I couldn't even remember why exactly I was mad at him except that it was stupid. Not to mention the part of the fight I _did_ remember was all because I had a crush on Adam. And maybe…I still did. _'If I could only tell him that myself,' I thought._

            Ethan knocked furiously on the door, bringing me out of my thoughts, and when I opened it, he swept me off my feet in the biggest hug I'd ever gotten. Josh (his roommate, remember him?) came in right behind him, hugging me as well.

            "We heard what happened!" Ethan exclaimed sitting on the un-used bed in the room.

            "Where is that bastard? I'm going to get him," Josh said through clenched teeth.

            "He's been taken away. Hole up while I change okay?" I went into the bathroom, taking Adam's shirt off. Adam was that much taller than me that his shirt, going up to his hip on him, went to my thigh. I put it in my basket so I could wash it for him, but not before taking in his smell. Adam smelled really good, like a smell that was like home; I don't know how to explain it. Quickly, I changed and left the bathroom.

            "So how many people know about this?" I asked coming out of the bathroom.

            Josh looked at me, "All athletics students except the JV hockey team. You can count on it that they and the rest of the school will know by 3 PM today."

            "Great…"

            "Are you going to classes today?" Ethan asked me.

            "Of course I am." Ethan looked at me with disbelief and I sighed, "I was raped, but pushed off a cliff. I can still function."

            "If you're sure…"

            "I'm positive." But by the end of the day, I really wished I'd stayed in bed. 

***Please Review!***


	15. Riley and Charlie

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! **

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: A little of the after-shock and some realization.**

****

****

**Riley**

****

            The unofficial game didn't go well. Orien caught us playing and kicked us off the ice. But I wasn't really playing hockey. It was the anger of what just happened to Jessica that was playing for me. Nobody messed with my teammates like that and got away with it. Especially not Jessica and it wasn't because she's a girl either. No, it was more than that. Jessica had this brightness to her that reminded me of my older sister who I loved very much.

            Later that day, I was surprised to find Jessica dressed in her Warrior sweatshirt, going to classes. Somehow, everyone found out about what happened to her. There were fairly varied reactions:

1) "Oh my God! Are you okay? (mainly by the cheerleaders and non-jocks)  
2) "That asshole! Where is he? I'm gonna get him so bad! (mainly by the football team and a few other jocks)  
3) "So tell me, what do you want to be when you grow-up? A prostitute or a hooker? You'd be great at both, you're that easy!" (JV-Hockey)  
4)"WHORE!" (JV-Hockey and their supporters)

            It got so bad, especially two days later at lunch from the JV team, it looked like she was going to start crying in the middle of the cafeteria. Every few minutes she would look down at the poor excuse for food, blinking several times or bite on her lip. The table was fairly quiet except for the occasional exchange of words to outside people making snide comments to Jessica.

            "I-I'm leaving guys. I'll see you later," Jessica said the first words since the beginning of the lunch period. We all looked up from our food in time to hear, "You're not going anywhere." It was Zak again, ready to cause more trouble. Now we had everyone's attention.

            "What the hell do you want man?" I stood up, the rest of the team following suit, "Didn't you have enough last time? And how did you get here?"

            "No, Mr. Warrior sir, I didn't have enough last time. I want her. She left me and nobody leaves Zak Hill until he finishes. Quite frankly, Jess, I haven't finished." He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her in, but Jessica shook him off violently, "I'm not going anywhere with you. I told you _no more before the school year had started!" _

            "And I told you I'd get you back, bitch. That's what I'm doing!" He grabbed her breasts this time.

            "You sick freak!" Adam yelled pushing him away from her.

            "Banks…nice to see you again."

            "You need help, man."

            "Me? Nah, you're the one defending the bitch. Did you hear what she did to me?" Everyone, and I mean everyone, looked at Jess, who gave up trying to stay calm.

            "I BROKE-UP WITH YOU! IS THAT SUCH A CRIME? DAMMIT, I HAD A FUCKING REASON, A DAMN GOOD ONE TOO! YOU TOLD ME YOU LOVED ME AND SHIT LIKE THAT! I BELIEVED YOU TOO! THE NEXT THING I KNOW, YOU'RE FORCING ME TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU AFTER I TOLD YOU A COUNTLESS AMOUNT OF TIMES THAT I DON'T FUCKING WANT TO! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT'S CALLED? RAPE, JACKASS, RAPE!!" It seemed like Jessica needed to get that out. Everyone now looked at Zak. Ethan jumped out his seat now.

            "WHAT?!" he screamed, walking over to our table, "Is this true, Zak? Have you been forcing my little sister to be your sexual toy?" The little punk looked satisfyingly scared, "Uh…I…well…you see…"

            "Look, you should just tell the truth. If you don't," Adam looked at us and then to the football team, "we have the Varsity hockey team _and the Varsity football team backing Jessica." Captain Duck from the JV table, who'd been treating Jess the worst, suddenly stood up, "And me." Jessica's eyes flew over to him in surprise as did the rest of the JV and Varsity hockey teams. _

            "So tell them Zak," Jessica challenged after getting over the shock, "Tell them about the wild sex you, I mean _we_ had and how you told me it wasn't really rape. You were just getting me used to it. Oh yeah and what about the time I refused to do it so you beat me up, threatening that if I told anyone, you'd get your father's gun and come after me? I'm sure they won't want to miss that story; it's pretty funny since you told everyone that I fell down a flight of stairs when they questioned me about the bruises after a date with you. Oh, hi Dean Buckley!" We all looked up from Jessica's ranting to see Dean Buckley staring intently at Zak.

            "Is this all true Mr. Hill?" Zak was probably ready to lie and say no, but took one last glance at everyone glaring at him before he said quietly ,"Ye-yes sir."

            "Come with me." They left, but not before Zak threw a menacing glare at Jessica. As soon as they were gone, Charlie asked to talk to Banksie, who nodded, leaving with Captain Duck.

            "See you later, guys," Jessica muttered, practically running out of the cafeteria. I watched her go, hoping she was okay. 

**Charlie**

****

            I know Jessica was a bitch; my feelings hadn't really changed about her. But she was Coach Bombay's daughter and Bombay really cared about her. Besides, what kind of sick person was Zak Hill anyway?

            "What did you want to talk about?" Banks broke into my thoughts. Oh yeah…I had to talk to him. Guy moved over a seat to let Banks sit. Reluctantly, he took the seat.

            "Right...what was that dinner thing all about anyway?"

            "I swear Charlie, I didn't' know it was a prank until after we left the restaurant. They didn't tell me until it was too late!" he told us.

            "Yeah, right," I retorted. _'Charlie, what are you doing? You're supposed to be apologizing!' _I yelled at myself. I threw that thought out the window and let my mouth run.

            "Look, if you brought me here to argue on weather I knew or not, I'm leaving."

            "Fine! Go back to sit with those stupid Varsity goons. See if we care!"

            "I'm just going to tell you one more time, I didn't know until it was too late. You don't have to believe me, but it's that truth." He walked away. The team looked at me.

            "Charlie, I think he's being sincere," Julie said, shifting in her seat.

            "Oh so now you're taking _his_ side? This is just great. My own team is against me!" I threw up my hands in exasperation. In all reality, I was just mad because I knew I'd really blown it and I felt horrible. But I didn't let anyone else know that.

            "No Charlie," Guy explained calmly, "We're not against you. It's just that Banksie's one of us too."

            "Whatever."

            "What happened to 'Ducks fly together'?" Guy asked me staring at me. I looked down and didn't say anything back. He was right. 

            "Hey did anyone study for the math test today?" Averman asked, changing the subject abruptly. The conversation was normal again, mindless babbling and laughing. It was just the way I liked it to be. That way, I didn't have to think about what a horrible friend I've been to Banksie.

            After school that Friday, I did all my homework so that I wouldn't have to do any over the weekend. Then I headed over to Mickey's to visit my mom and apologize for my behavior towards her after the Blake game. Plus, Guy called to say that my mom was looking for me and it sounded like she was upset. I hated it when my mom was upset. She worked so hard all the time that she deserved all the happiness in the world.

            "Mom!" I ran into Mickey's, "Mom? What's wrong?" That's when she told me. Hans was dead. And that was it. Hans, my mentor, my surrogate father, was gone. I stood there hugging my mom, in a daze and feeling kind of numb. It didn't hit me until that night and when it hit, it hit hard. I didn't want to believe it and sometimes even convinced myself it was all just a dream and I'd walk into the shop to find Hans with the ketchup again. But no matter what I thought, I knew that it had been Hans' time to go.

            Banks was at the funeral for Hans. My first thought had been that he was a traitor, why the hell was he a the funeral? But was he really a traitor? Had he laughed with Varsity every time they made fun of us? No. Had he joined in on their lunch snagging? No. Banks just sat or stood there with that same stoic expression on his face that was unreadable. Yet, over the years I'd learned to read them. So why had I failed to read the pleading and unhappiness in his eyes? Or had I read them and refused to do anything about it because he wasn't on the team anymore? What kind of friend was I? I realized that I hadn't been there through the whole Jessica ordeal and that was when he needed a friend the most.

            I turned back to the funeral. I know it sounds rude to not be paying attention, but I figured that if I didn't, everything would be okay. Bombay stepped in at that moment, placing Hans' Duck jersey over the coffin and then stepped back. That was the trigger. Tears blurred my eyes and I couldn't keep them back so I did the next best thing. I ran.

            Everything was just so confusing. What was going on? I wasn't sure I knew what I wanted anymore. Of course hockey was important to me; hell, it was all I thought about sometimes. So if hockey was so important to me, why did I quit the team? I admitted that it was because I didn't have the C. Hans was right. Maybe it was me, not coach Orion. Tears, fresh ones, rolled down my cheeks as I thought about Hans. And the ketchup.

            That afternoon, I collapsed into bed and lay there staring at my ceiling. I don't even remember what was going through my mind. All I know is when my mom called me for dinner, I was exhausted for some reason. I guess my thoughts tired me. I'd come to realize that I had changed a lot, maybe a bit more ego-inflated, but Coach Orion was still a jerk. And I couldn't deal like that. But hadn't Adam?

            Adam…I didn't use his first name much. Adam…it sounded weird, as opposed to what? Banksie? Cake-eater? I laughed quietly as I went to set the dinner table.

            The next morning Bombay woke me up at six, not my best hour of the day. He took me to the rink and I watched Orion and his daughter on the ice. It was like he was a totally different person when he was with his daughter than with the team. He seemed at peace, almost happy. It was then that I realized maybe he deserved another chance. Or maybe…it was me that _needed another chance. _

            "So Ethan told me what happened to Jessica," Bombay said almost casually, but when I looked at him he looked kind of worried.

            "Yeah, it's a big thing around school. A lot of people are taking it the wrong way, especially the Ducks," I admitted.

            "What do you mean?" We were walking outside now.

            "Well…they think she asked for it, but well, in the cafeteria, we were proved wrong."

            "Yeah I talked to Jessica. It's really affecting her game. I just hope it doesn't do anything bad to her hockey career." I stopped and stared at him. This was not the Coach I knew and loved.

            "Coach," I started, "You know that I don't like Jessica too much. But you can't push her in hockey. It's just a game, it may not be her life. She's not me, she's not Adam."

            "Yes, Charlie, but scouts--!"

            "Scouts? You're beginning to sound like Adam's dad, which is scary."

            "I am?"

            "Yeah. I think you need to talk to Jessica, find out what she really wants."

            "I guess…" We saw the team, plus Adam, playing a game of schoolyard puck.

            "See Charlie? They're the same old Ducks," Bombay pointed out. I nodded and found myself a little nervous around Adam. What was I supposed to say to him? 

**Please Review!**


	16. Guy

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Uh…just read it. =D**

**Oh yeah and PyroRockerGirl, yeah I made Jessica out to be a Mary-Sue. Oops, didn't mean to do that. Oh well, what can I do? More bad things are going to happen to her, but right after that it's Adam's turn to have a little bad luck. You'll see what I mean. But yeah, a lot of bad things happen to Jessica, but I'm not sure why I made it out to be like that….hmm…oh well. Thanks for pointing that out. I read the story again, and I flinched too lol.  **

**Guy**

            After the funeral, I saw Charlie run off and was about to go after him, but Kenny stopped me. I sighed and looked at Connie who smiled sadly at me. We'd decided a while ago that although we loved each other dearly, we spent too much time together. We were almost suffocating each other and we needed a break or we'd both blow up. It wasn't working out too badly at that point.

            I saw Banks leave quietly. Jessica met him right at the fringe of the grassy field, hugging him tightly as his body slumped. He walked away with her, speaking softly. Fulton came up next to me.

            "You think we should talk to him?" he asked, reading my thoughts.

            "I don't know," I shook my head, "I'm not sure Charlie would be too happy about that."

            "I don't see Charlie anywhere," Averman commented.

            "I feel bad for him." I spun around to find that Connie stood behind me. Julie nodded, agreeing. 

            Goldberg sighed, "He used to talk…" I smirked,

            "Well no one talks to him much anymore."

            "So let's go!" Russ said leading the way. Luis rolled his eyes and smiled, running off after Russ. 

            When we reached Varsity dorms, I realized we had absolutely no clue where Banks' dorm room was. Julie caught Scooter in the hall. He looked almost scared of us, "Um, hi."

            "Is Adam around?" I asked casually, holding my hands up to show we weren't doing anything fishy.

            "What did he do to you? Because he had no clue about the dinner thing. We didn't tell him until after we left, I swear."

            "Nothing," Luis insisted, "We came to apologize to Banksie."

            "Oh," He looked happier, "Good." Another Varsity player walked by, "Hey Scooter, could you get Cole to…hi." He spotted us.

            "They're not doing anything," Scooter assured him, "Do you know where Banksie went?"

            The other guy shrugged, "He and Jessica came in a few minutes ago. I think they're getting along better than they were before."

            "I think Banks likes her."

            "I think Bombay likes him."

            "Hmmm," Scooter turned back to us, "Check Adam's room and then check Jessica's if he's not there."

            "Thanks," We walked away. 

            "This is Adam's room," I said a few minutes later approaching yet another brown door.

            "How do you know?" Dwayne asked.

            "Because," I pointed to the bulletin board next to the door, "his name's right there."

            "Oh." 

            Averman read a note out loud, "Adam, went out. Sleep, don't wait up. Cole. Dated…the night before the dinner…"

            "They were planning it without him," Russ realized.

            "Then that must mean that he really _didn't _know," I said, looking around at everyone.

            "Shit," Fulton cursed. Luis knocked on the door, but Cole answered it, "What do you pukes want?"

            "Adam."

            "Not here. Now go away and don't bother him either." What was with Varsity? Why were they so protective? This was a side of Varsity I'd never seen and, for some reason, was uncomfortable seeing. Maybe it was because of their tough reps that I didn't want to see the soft side of them. We walked to the very end of the hall and found Jessica's name on the bulletin board, which was practically covered in crude notes other people left for her about Zak. The only good note there was 'Jess, practice tomorrow morning. Riley.' I shook my head as Fulton knocked on the door.

            "Hold up, I'm coming! Riley, if that's you," she opened the door, "Oh. Hi, what's up?"

            "Is Adam there?" Fulton asked as gently as he could.

            "Yeah," Jessica stepped away from the door, "He's sleeping though. You can come in and I'll wake him." We all filed in on tip-toe.

            "Why were you yelling if he was sleeping?" Connie asked suspiciously.

            "Adam sleeps through everything," she replied, looking at us strangely as if she expected us to know that, before turning to Adam shaking him gently, "Adam, get up. Your friends are here."

            Adam stirred after Jessica shook him again, "I don't have friends Jess."

            "You _do have friends. Why would they be here if they weren't your friends? Why would they look for you if they weren't your friends?" she had a way with words, I'll admit. Adam rubbed his eyes and sat all the way up. When he saw us, he sighed. Jessica got up from her sitting position and patted his shoulder._

          "That's my cue to exit. I'm going to go practice." She picked up a guitar and left. Jessica played guitar? Who would've thunk?!

            "Look, I didn't do it. Whatever Varsity did, I don't' have anything to do with it. What did they do? I'll tell them to stop if you want."

            _'Oh boy,' I thought, __'This is going to be tough.'_

**Thanks for the reviews:**

**Kellyerielf: **Yes, they'll be giving one. In the near distant future, lol.

**PyroRockerGirl: **Charlie was a prick in D3, very true. Oh and you're not being a bitch, it's okay. 

**Percussion: **I hated Charlie in D3 too

**OrlisGirl: **Thanks for reviewing!

**Duckslover99: **My first reviewer!!! Hehe, thanks!


	17. Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: ANOTHER bad thing to Jessica…sorry Pyro…*ducks from the knives* The next few chapters will be like this, but then something bad will happen to Adam, well angst wise. I promise. **

**Adam**

            Jessica was waiting for me at the edge of the field after the funeral. She was wearing a denim miniskirt and a gray tank-top under her Varsity jacket. Her hair bounced off her shoulders when she walked and since she was wearing platform flip-flops, I didn't have to look down too much. Wait a minute, what was I doing?

            "Hey Adam," she said quietly smiling shyly at me.

            "Hey." I bit my lip. I had willed myself not to cry during the funeral. Hans had taught me how to have fun on the ice, he taught me that life wasn't about winning. That hockey was for _fun._ Now he was gone. Jessica saw that I was upset and reached out to hug me. I hugged her back, taking in her smell, clinging onto her for support. When she pulled away, she looked at me with concern, "Are you alright?"

            "Yeah. I'll be fine."

            "I'm here to talk if you need it Adam." She'd used my first name. She was probably the only on of my friends at the moment that used my first name a lot. Of course, she was one of my _only_ friends too.

            "Thanks. Are you okay? You look like you have something on your mind."

            "I'm sorry, Adam!" she blurted out.

            "For what?"

            "Being so mean to you all the time. I mean…you were right! Zak is a pimp and a player. I should have listened to you. I'm so sorry. And even if I was mad at you, I didn't have a very good reason. I'm sorry!" I was a little surprised. Of all things that could have been on her mind, this was, somehow, the least expected. But then, she started to cry.

            "It's okay, I forgive you. I just…I just want to start over with you. Two years is a long time for us not to be talking. I don't even know if you're the same Jessica as I knew before."

            "I want to start over too. You're not the same Adam I knew either. You're quieter and deeper," she sniffled, wiping away her tears.

            I smiled, "I'm only quiet because there's no one to talk to."

            "So you'll start talking again?"

            "Yeah I think I can fit that in somewhere on my 'To do' list." We walked in silence until we reached her dorm room. She invited me in and I accepted since it was a much better way to spend my time than sitting with Col.

            "So we're starting over?" she asked.

            "Yeah."

            "Hi, my name is Jessica. What's your name?" she held out her hand for me to shake and I took it.

            "I'm Adam." We laughed a little before Jessica started getting serious.

            "Adam. Go talk to the Ducks."

            "I already tried," I sighed.

            "Try again. You need them and you miss them. I mean, they don't seem like the greatest friends, but what do I know?"

            "I don't know…I guess I can try." We talked a little more before I ended up dozing off.

            Jessica shook me awake about a half hour later, announcing that my friends had arrived. _'What friends?'_ I thought dully. But Jessica really wanted me to talk to whoever it was so I sat up. It was the JV team. Jessica picked up her guitar and left to go practice. She had a gig coming up and she hadn't practiced in weeks. That's what she told me, anyway. Apparently, Danny, Jessica, Aaron Kind, and two other kids formed a band during my lack of speaking to Jessica time period.

            "Look I didn't do it. Whatever Varsity did, I don't have anything to do with it. What did they do? I'll tell them to stop if you want," I pleaded with them. I was sick of the ongoing feud between JV and Varsity; it didn't even make sense to me.

            "We're not here because of that," Russ told me. I let out a breath and looked at them, beckoning them to continue. Jessica told me to start talking again, but around the JV team, I couldn't. Not now anyway. 

            "It's just that…well…" Julie started, but couldn't finish. Luis tried to say it.

            "Okay, you know that saying 'Ducks Fly Together'?"

            "Yeah," I nodded.

            "Well," Guy smiled a little, "We realized that ever since we got here, we haven't been flying together."

            Connie agreed, "None of us talk to Jesse anymore like we said we would."

            "I still talk to him," I said quietly. 

            "Oh." There was an awkward silence after that.

            "The truth is, we realized that even without Bombay, Ducks still fly together," Fulton enthused.           

            "So we're sorry," Dwayne finished, saying something that actually made sense.

            I looked at every one of them and knew that they mean it. All but Charlie, who hadn't even bothered to show up. I gave them a small smile.

            "It's okay." Everyone cheered and we shared a group hug. I forgot how good those felt. It was nice to be friends with them again. Still, I wished I could switch back to JV. Although Varsity was a challenge and the players weren't _too bad, I missed Duck hockey. __'Wait a minute,' I said to myself, __'Why can't__ I go back to JV?' _

            "Do you think Orien would let me play for you again?" I asked them. They all stopped cheering and stared at me like I had grown an extra head, "WHAT?!"

            "Okay, I guess I _won't_ go back then…you could have just said so."

            "NO! I'm sure he'll let you," Connie quickly decided.

            "Welcome back Banksie!"

            Jessica walked in at that moment looking please with herself, "I managed to annoy the hell out of Cole _and_ confuse him! He went to 'seek comfort in the bathroom'."

            I laughed, "I thought you were practicing."

            "I was. But I realized that I can't practice band songs without the rest of the band. Besides, annoying Cole is so much more fun. How do you _live with that oaf anyway? Not that I'm not grateful to him for beating Zak up because I am, but he's such an __idiot."_

            "Tell me about it," I muttered. Suddenly out of nowhere, Jessica's eyes widened. She clapped her hand to her mouth and made a bee-line to the bathroom. Not bothering to shut the door, she let it all go. Sounds of wretching could he heard and I ran to see what was going on. Jessica was throwing up everything she ate that day and more. It was pretty gross to tell the truth. After a few minutes, she stopped and left the bathroom, collapsing onto her bed, looking pale as I'd ever seen her, "Sorry." She whispered. I shook my head and put my hand to her forehead, "There's nothing to be sorry about. Are you okay?"

            "Yeah, I am now. Thanks."

            "No you're not," I answered my own question, ignoring her, "I'm getting Riley." Why I chose Riley, I didn't know, but he was the first one that came to my mine.

            "NO!" Jessica shot up, eyes widening with fear.

            "Why not?" They Ducks looked on with growing interest.

            "Because if there's anything wrong with me, which there isn't, he'll tell Coach Wilson and Coach Wilson will bench me. I won't see the two minutes of game time that I usually do and my dad will call and lecture me!"

            "He lectures you?" Hmm…that sounded familiar.

            Jessica realized she'd said something wrong and fell back onto her bed, "Well no, never mind. Just don't tell him, please?

            "Look Jess. After the whole Zak thing something was bound to be wrong with your body. Maybe this is it."

            "I was raped not diagnosed with a disease!"

            "How do you know Zak doesn't have AIDS or some other STD?" I shot back, leaving to get Riley before Jessica could even think of something to say.

            I came back in to find Jessica lying on her bed in her own world and the team was having their own conversation. Riley stopped when he saw the Ducks and stared at them with contempt. I shook my head at him and mouthed, 'Later.' He nodded with resignation and headed over to Jessica's bed.

            "Hey Jess. Banksie said you weren't feeling well."

            "Yeah well _Banksie," she glared at me and I winked, "was wrong."_

            "That explains the throwing up," I threw back at her. 

            "And the fever," Riley frowned, "Just the same, I want you to stay in bed or else I'll tell Wilson and you'll be benched. Stay in bed. And I mean it."

            "Fine," she grumbled slumping against her pillows. Riley nodded and left. Jessica sat up almost immediately after Riley shut the door. 

            "So when are you coming back?" Kenny asked after a minute.

            "I don't know. I'll talk to Coach Wilson today. If all goes well, probably by the middle of the week."

            "What? Wait, where are you going?" Jessica asked curiously. I looked over at her small figure and though of how we finally made amends for the past two years. She deserved to know the truth, I decided. I looked up to find Jessica's beautiful face waiting patiently for me to continue. This time, I didn't deny my thoughts.

            "Jess," I turned to her, "I think I'm going back to the JV team to be with my friends."

            "Really? That's great!" she said brightly and a little forced if you asked me. But I ignored it. 

            "It is?" 

            "Yeah! Now you'll be happy again and…you'll talk more and laugh like you used to…"

            "Thanks for understanding," I hugged her.

            "No problem. Now go have fun," she told me smiling a little. I nodded and left with the rest of the Ducks to play street hockey. 

**Please Review!**

**Iluvguygermaine00: **Thanks so much! I'm not _that_ great. 

**PyroRockerGirl: **I want to learn how to play guitar too…well I'm kind of learning but not really. If that makes anysense, which it probably doesn't. I WANT RAMEN NOODLES!! =D

**RosieLady: **Thank you very much, the different perspectives thing wasn't original so I won't take credit for that =)

**Katherine: **Yay!! SOMEBODY'S READING THIS STORY!!! Hehe, thanks!


	18. Charlie

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Just read it. Please.**

****

****

**Charlie**

****

            It turned out, Adam didn't say much to me during the game of schoolyard puck. He called out my name with the rest of the team when I arrived, he'd congratulated me a few times when I scored, and he nodded at me a few times. No one kept score so we weren't really sure which side won, though we'd disregarded the teams in the middle of the game and just shot at the trash can randomly. But at the end, I knew I had to talk to him if I ever wanted out friendship to be the same again. 

            "Adam!" I called as he skated away after the game.

            He turned around, startled, "What?"

            "Can we talk?"

            "Yeah…I guess." I nodded, leading him to the curb and sat down. Adam did the same.

            "I know this year hasn't been great for you…"

            "It hasn't exactly been a picnic for you guys either," he cut in.

            "Yeah, but I realize we, or _I_, could have made it more bearable. I was stupid to think that youo'd purposely pull those pranks on us and I was being a prick. You're one of us. You always have been and you always will be," I stopped and took in a deep breath, "And I'm sorry for treating you like chicken shit."

            He paused, absorbing everything, before loooking up at me and saying, "It's okay Charlie. It wasn't as if you could of known. Besides, friendships work both ways. It's just as much my fault as it is yours."

            "I guess…" I never really thought about it before.

            "So guess what?" he asked me.

            "What?"

            "I'm heading back to school to talk to Coach Wilson and Coach Orien."

            "You're quitting hockey?!" I jumped up, getting really worried.

            "No," he laughed, "I'm coming back to JV, you stupid prick."

            "You don't have to do that!" But I wanted him to.

            "I _want to come back. Even though the guys on Varsity are really nice, I know you don't believe me, and even though Jess and me are finally friends again, I would just rather play on JV. Besides, there's no one else around to keep you from being such an asshole."_

            "That's great!" I jumped up and hugged him.

            "Yeah, I'm going to talk to them now."

            "Okay. I think I'll come with you."

            "Don't you have a game to go to?" I looked down at the floor, ashamed.

            "I…I quit." Adam looked up, shocked. If there was anyone whow as a bigger fan of hockey than him, it would be me. I shrugged, "It's no biggie."

            "Yes it is! You're a great hockey player and the team needs you. Besides, Jesse's coming to watch the JV-Varsity showdown; make him proud! And what about Hans?" 

            "Jesse's coming?"

            "Yeah."

            "I'll come back," I sighed, "For Jesse, for Hans. And only because it'll be fun right?"

            "Right." We skated back to schol, Adam going to switch back and me to try and regain my spot on the team. Coach Orien wasn't in the office yet, but Wilson was. Adam went in to talk to Wilson, seeing if he could ease his way into breaking the news to him. I stook outside to wait for him. Ethan Bombay, Coach Bombay's son, raced past me a few minutes after Banks entered the office. A couple seconds later, another football player zoomed by with the school nurse in tow. Now I wa curious as to who was sick and what was going on. But what got me _really _intrigued was when Varsity ran by yelling, "WHAT?!" And although I disliked Jessica, I had a sinking feeling that it was her that was sick. Who else would have such an impact on the football team _and_ the hockey team? Adam came out, smile dropping to fown when he saw my face.

            "Charlie?" Without responding, I grabbed his arm and started in a dead run towards Varsity dorms.

            "Where are we going?" Adam asked, confused.

            "Jessica's," I said shortly.

            "Why? And, um, by the way you're going the wrong way."

            I stopped and blinked, "Oh." Adam rolled his eyes and led me the other way. 

            "Could you please tell me _why_ we're going to Jessica's room?"

            "I think something's wrong." Adam stopped in front of a door and knocked. Ethan opened it, "Hey Adam, Charlie."

            "What's wrong with Jessica?" Adam asked bluntly. Ethan opened the door all the way to reveal the football and hockey teams scattered around the room.

            "We're not really sure. I went to ask her if she wanted to watch a movie with us, but when I opened the door she was throwing up and holding her stomach. I sat her down and rubbed her back when I noticed part of her face looked sunburnt. She was moaning and saying her stomach really hurt. So Josh stayed with her while we went to get the nurse," Ethan said rather quickly, concern evident in his voice. The nurse was doing something to her that looked like she was taking her temperature or pulse, but I wasn't sure.

            "This is weird," she furrowed her brow and looked at us, "Jessica came to me a few days ago with a fever. She was back to normal just a few hours ago and I know she wasn't out on the ice."

            "You had a fever?" Ethan turned to his little sister.

            "Yeah," she admitted, looking at her bedspread and muttering, "And I was throwing up about twice a day too." 

            "I suggest we take her to the hospital," the nurse advised, "She says it hurts right around the kidney area."

           "No, not the hospital! Please!" Jessica begged. Adam stepped forward and sat at the edge of her bed.

            "Jess, look. I know you hate hospitals and I know you're scared, but we all want to know what's wrong so you can get better. Besides, this is definitely _not_ something you can get rid of by drinking orange juice and taking Tylonol," he told her softly. She sighed and pouted a little before smiling a little.

            "I guess…"

            "Grat. We'll check you in now if you want to," the nurse siad gently.

            "Okay. But Adam and Ethan have to stay with me."

            "That's fine. As for the rest of you, go on back to whatever it was you were going. We'll report back to you as soon as we get something." I nodded to Adam and flew out the door. I had a hockey team to rejoin. 

**Please review!**

**Duckslover99: **Don't sweat it! I figured you were busy. It's totally understandable. I'm starting freshman year at high school in the fall so I won't have much time to update anyway. I have schoolwork plus swim team. But thanks for getting around to it!

**Flat*Out*Crazy: **Thanks for reading! Yes, Zak must die.

**Jess: **Yes, well Jesse makes a magical appearance later on. You'll see him again!

**Anne: **Maaaaaybe…You'll just have to wait and find out, won't you?

**Iluvguygermaine: **Well, thank you very much! You'll just have to find out by reading it, won't you?

**RosieLady: **How is it amusing? Okay, I admit it _is_ amusing. But how so to you? Here's another update!

**PyroRockerGirl: **Yeah, well they have to be friends eventually, don't they? =D Yeah and that Charlie thing…well, he's a prick so don't worry about him. But look! HE'S NICE IN THIS CHAPTER!! ALERT THE NEWSPAPERS!!! =D Oh and the pregnant thing, I don't know. Just read and you'll find out. But I'll give you a big clue: It's not what you think. It's actually very strange now that I look back on it. But I can't change it because I already wrote the next 5 chapters…so anyway…a new update will be coming soon!

**Please review!**


	19. Jessica and Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: We find out what's wrong w/ Jessica. Well, sort of. **

****

**Jessica**

****

            The ride to the hospital was long and quiet. I would have said something, but the only thing that ran through my mind was, _'What's wrong with me?' _I was scared of the hospital, yes, but I was even more scared of what the doctors were going to say. That was the main reason I kept everything a secret from everyone else at first. I was afraid. 

            "We're here. Are you alright Jessica?" the nurse (Nurse Johnson), who was very nice, turned around to ask me.

            "I think so," I swallowed. Ethan squeezed my shoulder. We got out of the car and entered the white and sickly atmosphere of the hospital. I sat in a row of red cushioned chairs with Ethan and Adam on either side of me while Nurse Johnson signed me in. After an hour, I still hadn't been called in because I wasn't on the top priority list. I started getting drowsy and fell asleep on Ethan's lap.

**Adam**

****

            At the hospital, Jess fell asleep on her brother's lap. I watched her as she slept, noticing just how beautiful she really was. She looked like a sleeping angel, a young angel, never disturbed by anything in the world. She didn't look sick or anything, at least not to me, but the recurring fever and committing got me pretty worried. I must have been looking at Jessica for a long time because Ethan finally spoke up.

            "She's pretty isn't she?" I jumped and smiled weakly at Ethan.

            "Yeah."

            "You know, the two of you would be very good together."

            "You think so?"

            "Yeah."

            "I don't know. I mean I've…I've had a crush on her for awhile back," I admitted, "So part of our little fight started when I got jealous of Zak. But now it's been two years and we haven't talked much unless you count the endless arguments everyday talking. She's changed so much."

            "Yeah. Well things have changed for us, _life's_ changed for us. When my dad decided to take Jessica in as well, it was the best feeling in the world that we got to stay together…that we wouldn't be apart. And now that we're at Eden Hall, things have finally slowed down and life is in order for us again. I just don't want whatever it is that's wrong with her to screw things up. She used to be so depressed everyday because of our mother and because everyday, she was reminded of the ongoing war with you. There was a picture of you, Danny, and her together in her room and she refused to take it down. And the whole incident with Zak. I didn't know about that one. But her band and the music. It really helped her through it."

            "I'd really like to hear them play sometime," I shrugged as an afterthought. 

            "You should. I'll ask Jessica when their next big gig is. Maybe I'll go with you or something. I haven't heard them play together since last New Year's and I think they have a whole new sound now."

            "That's cool." Suddenly, Jessica woke with a start and groaned, clutching her stomach (around her kidney area). Immediately, Ethan scooper her into his arms and cradled her, whispering soothing words in her ear. I went into the bathroom and wet a paper towel, bringing it to Jessica to place onto her hot forehead. Finally, after another fifteen minutes of pain, Jessica was called in. I remembered suddenly that I had just missed a jockey game just as Ethan went in with Jessica and told me to sit tight. But soon after they left, my cell phone rang. And I knew that sitting tight was not an option.

            "Hello?" I knew it was my dad from the caller ID and was expecting the worst. I got the absolute worst.

            "Where were you?" he demanded without a hello. I cringed, knowing my dad would _not be happy with my excuse._

            "Well you see, Jessica's sick; so sick that she had to go to the hospital emergency room. That's where I am now. I've been here for a few hours."

            "Doesn't she have Eric or whatever his name is?" I groaned inwardly, wondering why in hell I even bothered to try.

            "Yes, but she asked me to come with her. She doesn't have many other close friends."

            "Well tough for her. Adam, you tell me what's more important. You're entire future or some silly friendship with a girl you were mad at anyway?"

           My blood boiled through my veins. Clenching my teeth, I responded tersely, "There will be other games, dad. It's okay."

            "You didn't answer my question!" he snapped.

            "I don't want to argue-"

            "We're not arguing. We're discussing an important matter in an adult way."     

            "Oh big difference!" I snapped back at him sarcastically.

            "Don't you snap at me!"

            "It's just one game! There will be others!"

            "Adam. Bradley. Banks," my dad said my full name slowly, "Answer the damn question!" he exploded in my ear. I had to hold the phone a few feet from my ears, which made people stare.

            "People are looking…"

            "I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHO'S WATCHING! THE PRESIDENT OF THE FUCKING UNITED STATES COULD BE THERE! WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU: YOU'RE FURTURE CAREER OR YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH THAT BITCH OF A GIRL?!?!" 

            That was it, "My friendship with Jessica, who I think is a great friend, by the way." I told him calmly. I heard a click as my dad hung-up on me. I ended my call casually. A dad hanging up on his son. Who would've thunk? All of our fights over the phone happened like that, actually. Half an hour later, he'd call back and apologize. And each time I'd accept, but this time we needed to talk for real. In a different way. If only I could figure out how.

            Ethan and Jessica came out of the small room solemnly. I stood up, forgetting my deranged father for a moment, fearing the worst. Jess sat down in a chair, eyes downcast. I looked to Ethan, hoping he'd tell me _something_. 

            "She has a low blood cell count. The doctor's getting results for a test on her kidneys. Hopefully, it's nothing too bad," he told me before quickly adding, "No, she's not pregnant," after he saw the look on my face. I bit my lip, knowing that it must have been much more serious than being pregnant. I took a seat next to Jess.

            "Should I call the team?" I asked her gently.

            "No," she whispered, "You should go. We have a game. You're dad would get mad if you didn't show up." _'Too late'_ I thought to myself. But instead, I said,

            "There will be others."

            "What will your dad say?"

            "Screw my father. It's always about hockey for him anyway and my mother thinks I enjoy it. She's never around for the fights…" I trailed off, realizing that it wasn't the time or place to be discussing my issues. Luckily, the doctor stepped into the waiting room. He led us into a small office-like room and offered the three of us seats. Soon, I found that it wasn't so lucky the doctor came to talk. 

            "I have a pretty good idea of what it is. It's not a sexually transmitted disease, rest assured. However, you're not going to like what I have to say. I've appointed you to see a rheumatologist for confirmation of my suspicions."

            "Well what do you suspect?"

**Thanks for the reviews:**

**RosieLady: **Thanks for the reviews! It's okay about the amusing thing. I was just teasing =D

**PyroRockerGirl: **WHOO HOO!!! Thanks for the ramen noodles! =D Yeah well I didn't have time to type up the next five chapters *grins sheepishly and shakes fists at teachers* Well…no she's not pregnant as you just saw. But she is something else. Adam angst in a few chapters!

**Anne: **Well…wait no more!! Well, wait a little more!

**Percussion: **Nope, she's not pregnant!


	20. Ethan and Jessica

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: We find out what's wrong w/ Jessica. **

****

****

**Ethan**

****

            "Well what do you suspect?" I asked the doctor, voicing Adam and Jessica's thoughts.

            "In short, Jessica, you have a high likelihood of being diagnosed with lupus." There was total silence in the room. The look of shock on Adam's face, fear on Jess's, sorrow on the doctor's, all mixed in to complete what I was feeling. 

            "It's actually a very good thing you came to me. I guess that's a good thing that came out of the whole situation with your ex-boyfriend. It's not positive yet, which is why we're sending you to a rheumatologist to do a final test, okay Jessica?"

            My sister nodded her head wordlessly.

            "Great," the doctor continued, "Here's the address. Go now and we should have the results by tomorrow. Good luck." _'Good luck for what?' _I thought, almost bitterly. Nurse Pinkston was waiting out in the car, reading a magazine. As soon as she heard us open the door, she smiled,

            "Well? How'd it go? Is everything okay?" I slid into the front seat to let Adam sit in the back this time as Jess muttered,

            "That depends. How do you define okay?" Nurse Pinkston looked at me questioningly. Sighing, I handed her the address to the rheumatologist, "She's been appointed to go here." I explained. Nurse Pinkston nodded.

            "Do you want to eat something first?" For the first time since lunch, I realized how hungry I was. At the rate we were going, we'd probably miss dinner.

            "I'm hungry!" Adam and I said together.

            "Let's go eat first then," Jess offered. We stopped by the diner to grab a bit. All of us stuffed our faces except for my sister. When I asked her what was wrong, she shook her head and told me she wasn't hungry. _'That's strange,' I thought, _'Jess is _always_ hungry.'__

**Jessica**

****

            The rheumatologist was really nice. She told me all she needed to do was take an ANA test from me. It's a blood test that shows a certain type of antibody or something. Other than the fact that I was terrified of needles, I was okay with it. Nurse Pinkston went in with me while my brother called my dad, against my will, and Adam called Dean Buckley to inform him of our whereabouts. 

            "Just close your eyes and relax, sweetie," the doctor, Dr. Hendrix, soothed gently as she swabbed my arm with cotton and alcohol. I took in several deep breaths and tried to calm down, squeezing my eyes shut. I felt a slight prick and knew the needle was in my arm. I felt a few moments of pain before Dr. Hendrix pulled it out. Quickly bandaging me up, she told me, 'I'll have the results tomorrow at five PM. Until then, go on with your everyday activities and take it easy. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

            "Yeah, thanks." I left, letting Nurse Pinkston talk to Ethan in the lobby. He had convinced Adam to take the bus home and I was glad that he had. It was a scary thought, knowing what I might have had to face the next day. And honestly, I wasn't sure if I was ready to face it.

            The next morning I headed down to breakfast, not really wanting to eat anything and extremely tired. I'd spent half the night tossing and turning, desperately wishing that I had a room-mate to talk things over with and grateful that I didn't so I could be alone. I sat at my regular spot with the team and practically fell asleep until Scooter woke me up. 

            "Hey, you okay?"

            "Tired," I mumbled.

            "How was the doctor?" Riley asked.

            "Tonight…"

            "Tonight what?"

            "Results from the tests." I didn't have the energy to deal with anything. I wasn't sure how I was going to get through the rest of the day without falling asleep in class. 

            "Did you hear about Banks switching back to JV?" Labine piped. I slowly picked my head up, noticing for the first time that Adam was sitting JV that morning.

            "He's just sitting with them. It doesn't mean he's on the team," I pointed out.

            "No, Wilson said this morning at practice that you'll be taking his place."

            "What?!" Now I was more awake. 

            "Don't sound so surprised," Trey Brown said, "It was almost guaranteed to happen. We don't have any more third line players.

            "It's not that. I'd just rather have him around…you know as another freshman." Of course I already knew about him switching back because he'd told me just the day before. But it was so soon. And I kind of wanted to be with him…

            "While you're at the doctor," Scooter stepped into my thoughts, "We'll be at hearing. They want to revoke JV's scholarships." That included Adam's. But the difference between Adam and the rest of the Ducks was that he could afford the enrollment fee. Still, I felt bad for all of JV, even if they hated me. 

***

            "Jessica?" Dr. Hendrix called me into her office. Ethan stood up and followed me in, grasping my hand tightly. I think he was just as scared as I was. We each took a seat in front of her desk.

            "I got your test results and there's no easy way to tell you this. The results were positive." I felt my breath catch in my throat, forming a lump. What did that mean? As if reading my mind, Dr. Hendrix continued, "You do indeed have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus." That must have been the most horrible moment of my life. _'Lupus…'_ was the only thing that echoed through my mind. 

            "What's that mean?" Ethan asked as I bit back a stream of tears.

            "It means that Jessica's immune system is going into overdrive, not able to tell the difference between healthy cells and germs. So it makes autoanitbodies that attack normal cells instead of the germs."

            "Is there any treatment?" I asked shakily.

            "I'm going to prescribe you a few medicines that will help. But there's no cure." 

            "Wh-what will I do?" 

            "Here are the prescriptions," she slid a few pieces of paper over the tabletop, "And I have set up a group of people who will act as your support group. You will meet them on Friday. By then, I also want you to think of eight people in your life that will be there for you. These eight people will also be a part of your support group. In the mean time, take it easy. I don't want you stressing yourself out or over-exhausting yourself."

            "Can I play hockey?"

            "I don't really suggest it. Still, if your coach lets you practice, it won't do too much harm," she explained. I let out a breath. At least now I had an excuse not to play. She continued, "I don't' want you getting a flare. Today is Monday so come back to me on Friday to meet your medical staff. I'm really sorry, Jessica." I stood up, Ethan beside me. We thanked Dr. Hendrix and left the room. Not even thirty seconds after we exited, I broke down crying. Than probably expected it because he showed no sign of surprise.

            "It'll be okay," he whispered, wrapping his arm around me, "It's okay. We'll get through this together. We always do." I wasn't sure if he was trying to convince me or himself. Maybe it was both of us. 

**Thanks for the reviews:**

**Nebula2: **Thanks for reading! Yeah, I felt bad for the Hawks at the end of the first movie so I made them okay sounding except for McGill because I always hated him. =D

**Holly: **SUGAR COOKIES ROCK!!! Yeah I know, the medical care around here these days…I hope you're better! Well more Adam pain in 3-4 chapters! Yes, I have those done too. I'm just too lazy to type them up. They'll be up soon though because it's a three day weekend! WHOO HOO!!

**Adriana: **Well this isn't a cliff-hanger…I think. =D

**Eponine42: **You were close!

**Psychotic Coconut Observer: **Nah, no leukemia. I didn't want to do something like that. So I researched another disease.

**Flat*Out*Crazy: **hehe, thanks. This story seems to dragging itself out the more I write it. But that's okay because it's a lot of fun =D

**Anne918: **I'm a devotional sap too. But yeah, you kind of guessed what would happen romantically. 

**Percussion: **You didn't think long enough!! Lol, j/k thanks for waiting!

**Please review!**


	21. Charlie

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Eh…just read please?**

Charlie

****

            Our scholarships weren't revoked, which was great! Linda and I were on better terms and Adam was back on our team. The only thing wrong was Adam's constant worry for Jessica. It wasn't that it was _wrong_, it just brought the good mood down a bit. He was especially distracted during the week of the JV-Varsity showdown, but I had no clue why.

            "Hey Adam," Jessica approached our table at dinner on Monday night. Adam looked up at her and smiled, "Hey Jess. How'd it go?" Was I missing something here? How did what go?

            "Okay…Can I talk to you after dinner?"

            "Yeah, sure." Jessica nodded and proceeded back to the Varsity table where Riley and his cronies were waiting.

            "Wait," I heard someone call out. I was surprised to find that it was me, "Do you maybe want to sit with us today?" I motioned awkwardly towards the empty seat next to Julie and across from me.

            "Yeah. I'd like to," she smiled slightly taking a step back towards us.

            "Jess!" Riley yelled from the other side of the cafeteria. 

            She rolled her eyes before turning, "Yeah?"

            "Are you sitting with JV?"

            "_Can_ I? Am I allowed to? Because, you know, I wouldn't want to upset _Warrior tradition_!" she gave him a look."

            "I guess," Riley gave in. Jessica turned back to us with a look of frustration written all over her face muttering, "Stupid overprotective captains." As she sat in the empty seat, Julie introduced herself.

            "Hi. I'm Julie, the goalie."

            "I know. Scooter talks about you all the time," Jessica smiled, "He really likes you, you know."

            "Really?" Julie looked like Christmas had come early.

            "Yeah," Adam agreed.

            "I'm Charlie," I offered.

            "You're the captain of the team," Before anyone else could say a word, she continued naming everyone else, "You're Fulton Reed and the other Bash Brother is Dean Portman, but he's not here. You're Connie Moreau and you're Les Averman. You're Guy Germaine, Greg Goldberg, Dwayne Robertson, and Luis Mendoza. And then there's you," she turned to Adam in mock disgust, "Adam Banks." Adam rolled his eyes and shoved her lightly.

            "How do you know all this?" Averman asked.

            "The Jr. Goodwill Games, dummy. There was Jesse Hall too."

            "You were there?" my hate started to fade. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. 

            "Yeah, well, for the last two games anyway. I saw the rest on TV. I absolutely _begged _my mother to let me go to California to watch you guys. It didn't take much begging though. She was more than happy to get…well she had things to do." Jessica finished her last sentence a little weirdly. What was she talking about? 

            "So how is Varsity?" Averman asked seriously.

            "It's okay. The guys aren't half bad. They'll be there for you when you really need them." I'm pretty sure that wasn't quite what Averman was looking for. But Jessica continued, "I'm thinking about not playing anymore though. I don't enjoy it half as much as I did before. Anyway, I heard your scholarships weren't revoked. That's great! The only consolation I get for not being able to go to the hearing is seeing and experiencing the wrath of Riley's anger. Ah, well, I'll pay for that one dearly. He's seriously pissed off. Trent just told me that we have double practice everyday. That's twice the amount of work and twice the amount of exhaustion. I don't think I'm up for that. And personally, I think he's scared. But…don't tell him I said that." Averman's face lit up again. Connie looked Jessica with sympathy,

            "It must suck. It's not so back though is it? You were third line and subbing in anyway. Right?"

            "Yeah. But now that Adam left, I get more game time. It's just that I'm not really sure I want it anymore due to…other interests." We all looked at Banks who just shrugged.

            "Hey Jess?" he quipped.

            "Yeah?"

            "When's your next gig?" Gig? What?

            "Next weekend, I think," she looked confused, "Why?"

            "I don't know. I was thinking maybe I'd come and check out your skill that's being talked about all the time; See if it's all BS or not."

            "Really?"

            "Yeah, really. Do you _want_ me there?" Jessica's face turned red.

            "Of course I want you there! In fact, uh, you're all invited if you want that is. We need as big a turnout as we can possibly get." She pulled out a single invitation out of her bag and tossed it in the middle of the table, "That has everything there. Adam, when you're done, meet me in the courtyard." She stood up, throwing out her untouched dinner before leaving the premises. At once, everyone dove for the little card in the middle of the table, but I was closest and snatched it up first.

**_COME JOIN REALITY FOR A NIGHT OF FUN!!_**

**_WHERE: _**_Edina__ High football stadium_

**_WHEN: _**_December 12_

**_TIME: _**_8 PM-__ ??_

**_WE'D LOVE TO SEE YOU THERE!_**

_Love,_

_Jordan__, Danny, Aaron, Tori, Jessica_

**_REALITY_**__

            "She's in a band?" Guy asked wildly after I read the invite out loud.

            "Adam nodded, "I didn't know until recently either," he looked at the clock on the wall, "I should probably go. Whatever Jess needed to talk about sounded important."

            "Okay we'll catch you later man." Adam smiled before throwing his empty tray out and heading for the courtyard.

            "Is it just me or did Jessica turn a shade of red I thought to be impossible when Banksie asked if she wanted him to go to her gig?" Russ threw the thought onto the table as we watched Adam's retreated back.

            "Is it just me or are they both having an unbelievable effect on each other?" Luis added in intelligently. 

            "Think what you want," I shrugged, "But I'm not getting involved."

            "Oh come on Charlie! This is the first real potential girlfriend for our cake-eater," Fulton exclaimed, "It's up to us as his friends to make sure he gets her."

            "No," I said firmly, "We ask Adam if he likes her and that's all we do. He's on his own. No meddling!" They all grumbled and stuck their tongues out at me, but I stood my ground. I knew what happened when outside people got involved with love and I wasn't going to let it happen to Adam. 

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Nebula2: **Aww…I hope the rest of the chapter turns out well. Actually, I probably already read it and didn't realize but that's me…totally clueless. Well thanks!

**Anne918: **Yep, that's in the next chapter and that's gonna be out the same day I post this. Which is probably today.

**Thanks for everyone else who reviewed! Please review!**


	22. Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: First sign of A/J love. **

Adam

****

            I found Jessica sitting under a tree on the far side of the courtyard. There were these little puffs of frost coming out of her moth every time she breathed and she looked as if she was lost in her own thoughts. I stopped for a second just to watch her. I didn't' know when I'd felt it, but old feelings of love and desire hit me with such force that seeing her sitting there alone like that gave me an urge to run up to her and kiss her right then and there. But I didn't of course. Instead I stood there and observed what I couldn't have from a distance. That is until I saw her bury her face in her hands.

            "Jess?" I stood in back of her small frame. Her head snapped up, eyes meeting mine.

            "What's wrong?" I asked. Jessica swallowed and bit her lip before turning the other way. 

          "When I went to the doctor," she began softly, "I was sent to a rheumatologist, remember? Do you know what that is?" 

            Though she couldn't see me, I shook my head no.

            "It's a disease doctor. And she discovered that I have…lupus." It took a moment for me to digest what she just said. When I did, I was shocked. Lupus? Couldn't someone…die from that? Sure, I'd known that the doctor had been suspecting it, but I'd been so sure that Jessica was completely fine, this was the least I suspected. I actually thought she'd been playing that trick on me. You know, where people pretend that something's wrong, but everything's really fine. And she wasn't.

            "Oh Jess…" I fell forward, embracing her in a hug from behind. She turned around, tears shining in her eyes. We held gazes for a second before Jess collapsed into my outstretched arms, sobbing. All I could do was hold her, whispering what I hoped to be words of comfort. _'Lupus…'_ rang thought my head, trying to get the best of me as the two of us sank to the ground together. But try as it might, I grew resilient to it. We sat there on the cold ground for awhile, Jessica sobbing in my arms; me trying to be strong for her.

            "Adam?" she whispered picking her head up from my chest where tearstains now lay.

            "Yeah?"       

            "Thanks you." That took me by complete surprise.

            "For what?"

            "Being a great friend. You know I'm running low on those nowadays."

            "Aw Jess-"

            "The thing is, Adam, I know how hard I am to deal with sometimes; I can be a real bitch, and ever since the whole Zak thing, I realized that good friends don't come in a bundle and I'm glad I have you."

            I smiled a little, "I'm glad I have you too." We were silent as I led her to a nearby bench where we could talk more comfortablely.

            "So how's Ethan taking this?"

            "I don't know," she sighed, "I have to go back to the doctor this week."

            "Do you want me to come?"

            "No, stay with your friends. I'll be okay."

            "I'll be here for you. Don't forget that." I hugged Jessica tightly, never wanting to let go.

            When I headed back to mine and Cole's room, Cole was trying to battle off the rest of the JV team. He didn't succeed. It was almost hilarious and I would have laughed if _'Lupus…'_ hadn't still been echoing through my head. Wordlessly I pushed through the bodies, nodding slightly at Cole before dropping onto my bed, staring intently at the ceiling. I felt all thirteen eyes on me.

            "Cole just let them in," I muttered. He shrugged then left, probably in search of Riley. The Ducks filed into the room, shuffling their feet uncomfortablely. 

            "You know," Charlie started, "Jessica's not that bad. I kind of like her." 

            "I like her. She's funny!" Averman announced.

            "She has no right to barge in on us just because she and Adam resolved their differences," Connie protested.

            "At least she's nice!" Russ defended her. Guys nodded in agreement.

            Fulton shook his head, "She can't just be once of us all of the sudden. That's not how it works."

            "But you're the one who-" I cut them all off.

            "Are you done?" They stopped abruptly, looking up at me as if forgetting I had been there. 

            "Look," I sat up almost angrily, "I don't really care if some…most of you still have a strong dislike for Jessica. None of you have to come to her gig, none of you have to be her friend. It's you choice as it is mine. And I choose to be there for her, but it's okay if you don't want to. But take your arguments outside! Stop acting as if I'm not here or like I'm deaf. I'm here, I'm a living person for fuck's sake! And those of you who happened to change opinions, that's cool too. But before any sort of friendship happens, don't you think you owe her a damn apology? If all you guys wanted as to come here and argue about Jessica, you can leave!" Without waiting for a response, I plopped back onto my bed. There was complete and utter silence, another moment of achievement for Averman. Although I felt bad for yelling at them, I didn't regret it.

            "Adam we said we're sorry," Russ started. I cut him off again.

            "No! You see I know you're sorry about what happened with me. And I forgive you. But have you been listening to word I just said?! Russ, you said she's nice. Guy you agreed. Charlie you said you're starting to like her and Averman you think she's funny. Well don't tell me, tell _her_. Did you ever think maybe she _wants_ to be friends with you? Did you ever think, even if only for a second, the tormenting you put her through needed an apology? It does!" They all stared at me before they silently left the room. When would they get it? 

**I know…2 in a day. It's a major accomplishment on my part =D. Please review!**


	23. Jessica

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Uh…read? Please? **

****

****

**Jessica**

****

            "So Jessica, have you come to terms with your condition? Are you okay with it now?" Dr. Hendrix asked me when I visited on Friday afternoon. I nodded. Throughout the week, I'd requested to be alone a lot of the time because I needed to tell myself that I would be okay physically _and_ emotionally. Sure, I'd done a great job telling Ethan, Adam, my dad, and then band, but I needed some self-assurance. And I knew nobody could do it except for me. After hours of pretending to do my homework, I decided that whatever may happen, I was going to face it head-on. Because I wasn't going to lay around waiting for it to consume me. I also thought about what I wanted. If I still wanted the same thing I wanted when I was younger. 

            "That's great! Now this is Dr. Davis. She's going to be a big part of your support group," Dr. Hendrix continued.

            "Wait a minute," I was confused, "Support group?"

            Dr. Davis spoke up, "Yes. Dr. Hendrix and I are going to help you form one today. What it does is ensure that you are in the best health, physically and emotionally. There is medical staff, which will be taken into our hands. In fact, it's already done. We only have your part left."

            "My part?"

            "Jessica, we can't have a member of our medical staff following you around all the time and I'm _positive_ you don't want that anyway," Dr. Hendrix chimed in. Dr. Davis nodded.

            "And we want to make sure you have someone to go to when you're upset or stressed out because these things cause flares. And chances are, you'll be more comfortable telling someone you're close with than someone who's _job is to get you to tell them. So we want you to pick seven or eight people to be included in your support group. Pick people you know will be willing to help you and people you know very well. Just list them here and we'll get in touch with them." I nodded and took the pen offered to me, pulling the preformatted list towards me. Slowly I wrote:_

1) Ethan Bombay: cell: 6685743  
2) Gordon Bombay: Home: 7430112 Cell: 6688570  
3) Josh Levine: See Ethan's number  
4) Danny Larson: cell: 6548448  
5) Aaron King: cell: 6547032  
6) Tori Montgomery: home: 5542994  
7) Jordan Knight: home: 5543418

8) Adam Banks: cell: 4881003

            Slowly making sure I was satisfied, I put the pen down. 

            "Jessica can you tell me your relationship with each person?"

            "Yes. Ethan's my older brother, Gordon's my dad. Josh is my brother's best friend and like a brother to me. They're always together so you'll be able to catch him around with Ethan. Danny's one of my best friends since we were three or four. Aaron, Tori, and Jordan are band mates. We're all really close. The five of us play in a band together. And Adam…Adam's the one who's just been there whenever I needed him lately."

            "Boyfriend?"

            "No," I replied, realizing that maybe I _wished_ he was my boyfriend. The doctors were satisfied and I was free to go. Ethan picked me up and we drove back to school.            

            As I was walking down the long corridor, passing Cole and Adam's room, I heard yelling. I looked to my right seeing Scooter there looking concerned as well. Pressing my ear to the door, I hoped I wouldn't hear Cole and Adam arguing though I doubted Cole had the mental capacity to carry on an argument for very long. But there was only one voice and it was Adam's. Scooter tapped my shoulder and mouthed, 'We'd better not eavesdrop'. I nodded, ducking into his room next door. 

            "Hey Adam," I greeted him a few nights later as I made my way to my usual table. He didn't even look up, walking right past me and out of the cafeteria. I stood there like an idiot for a few seconds before shaking my head. I had a big announcement to make. 

            "Guys…" I trailed off when Cole interrupted.

            "JV-Varsity Showdown in two days! We are going to _cream_ them!" 

            I sighed.

            "Definitely! And we're going to show those rejects we don't need Banksie's little ass around here to help us out either!" Riley said with defiance. He and Cole seemed to be the only ones who were even slightly passionate about the showdown. Maybe it was because JV had a real chance this year. Riley had it in for Charlie and Adam. Cole just liked to talk. 

            "Speaking of 'Banksie'-" I cut him off.

            "I'M QUITTING THE TEAM!" I shouted over Cole. Scooter froze, spoon halfway to his mouth.

            "Quitting?" I had been thinking about it for a long time and when it came down to priorities, hockey just didn't make it up there. Not anymore. School, Reality, and my health came way above it. 

            "Yes," I confirmed, "I've been _trying_ to tell you!" Though I hadn't meant to be so blunt about it, my approach had it's effectiveness.

            "Why?" Riley asked as if quitting hockey was appalling. 

            "Because I just don't want to play, okay?" I threw another invite to the gig that Saturday onto the table and shrugged off my jacked, handing it over to Riley, "The rest of the stuff I'll hand to Coach Wilson. Good luck Friday night." I left the cafeteria, fully aware that the team all had their eyes on my retreated back. There. I'd done it. Now all I had to do was tell my dad. 

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Anne918: **And to hell she will go! =D And don't worry, I'm sure everyone knows who the main pairing is in this story already. So you'll be assured…it will definitely happen.

**Nebula2: **They will…the ones that like her will anyway. The others just go their own way…They don't all have to like her and I figured, why make them all like her? Anyway thanks!

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!**


	24. Adam

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Bankise angst.  **

****

****

**Adam**

****

            "Adam!" my dad's voice came over the phone as soon as I'd picked up.

            "Dad?" Why was he calling? There hadn't been a hockey game in a week.

            "Now this JV-Varsity game is big. Scouts will practically be devouring the arena. After you pulled the JV stunt, they'll be harder to get the attention off of though. But don't worry, I have it all worked out. I talked to a few of them from Michigan State and Penn State. They're bringing in some pro scouts-" There he went again with those stupid scouts.

            "Dad," I interrupted, "When you say you talked to them, do you mean you asked them to or you _bribed them to?" It came out more hostile than I'd intended, but I was holding a lot back. _

            "What are you talking about?"

            "You can't pretend everything's okay between us anymore, dad!"

            "What? Everything _is_ okay!" Suddenly the song 'Perfect' by Simple Plan came onto the radio that I was listening to. 

_Hey dad look at me,_

_Think back and talk to me,_

_Did I grow up according to plan?_

_And do you think I'm wasting my time,_

_Doing things I wanna do?_

_'Cuz it hurts when you disapprove all along._

            "You were yelling at me earlier in the week about missing a game! You never called back until now and I'm supposed to pretend you never said what you said?!"

            "Young man, you will _not_ talk to me like that!"

_And now I try hard to make,_

_I just want to make you proud,_

_I'm never gonna be good enough for you,_

_I can't pretend that I'm all right_

_And you can't change me._

            "NO! All my life, I've tried my hardest to do everything! I worked my ass off to get on the Hawks and when I got switched, I worked harder because maybe, if I helped bring the Ducks to victory, you'd be proud. When we got into the Jr. Goodwill Games, I played extra hard so that the damn scouts would notice me. When my wrist got sprained, I tried to hide it so I could make you proud. But when you found out that I'd been benched, all you could say was, 'I'm disappointed', disregarding everything I've done!" 

            "It was your fault you weren't careful enough!"

            "CAREFUL?!" I screamed, "Careful? You try being careful and playing hard with guys ten times your size on your back all the time. News Flash: I'm not superman!"

_'Cuz we lost it all_

_Nothing lasts forever_

_I'm sorry_

_I can't be perfect_

_Now it's just too late_

_And we can't go back_

_I'm sorry_

_I can't be perfect_

            "I'm not asking you to be!"

            "Then what the hell do you want from me?!"

_I try not to think_

_About the pain I feel inside_

_Did you know you used to be me hero?_

_All the days_

_You spent with me_

_Now seem so far away_

_And it feels like you don't care anymore_

_And now I try hard to make it_

_I just want to make you proud_

_I'm never gonna be good enough for you_

_I can't stand another fight_

_And nothing's alright…_

            "Put your priorities in order, Adam. Hockey should always come first!"

            "I'm not _you dad!"_

_'Cuz we lost it all_

_Nothing lasts forever_

_I'm sorry _

_I can't be perfect_

_Now it's just too late_

_And we can't go back_

_I'm sorry_

_I can't be perfect_

            "But you _can be!"_

            "You don't understand!!"

            "Me? What about you? This is your life!"

_Nothing's gonna change the things that you said_

_Nothing's gonna make this right again_

_Please don't turn your back_

_I can't believe it's hard_

_Just to talk to you_

_'Cuz you don't understand…_

            "I'M 14 FUCKING YEARS OLD!! I HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO!!!"

            "DON'T YOU DARE CURSE AT ME YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BASTARD!!

_'Cuz we lost it all_

_Nothing lasts forever_

_I'm sorry_

_I can't be perfect_

_Now it's just too late_

_And we can't go back_

_I'm sorry…_

            "I CAN'T BE PERFECT!!!!!!!!" I slammed the phone down and threw it across the room. 

            Sobbing, I sank to the floor. I hadn't cried in a long time. So long, I'd forgotten what it felt like. I didn't understand why it had to be the way it was between my father and I. Why couldn't he just stop for a minute and listen to me? Was it really that hard? All my life, I'd been his little puppy without even realizing it. In all my frustration, I grabbed one my Hawks trophies. It read, 'Adam Banks, MVP'. Letting out a distraught scream I stood up and slammed it against my desk with a little too much force. The trophy broke into two pieces. I flung the piece in my hand across the room. 

            "Adam?" a knock came at the door.

            "Go the hell away!" I screamed. The person left. I looked at the clock. Dinner time. Even better. Slowly I made my way down to the cafeteria. The rest of the Ducks didn't pay much attention to what I was doing so I went back up to my room. I wasn't hungry anyway. There was enough built up rage inside of me that I didn't have to worry about food.

            "Adam?" another knock came. It was a difference voice this time. I threw the door open. 

            "What the fuck do you want?" I growled, then stopped seeing that it was Jessica.

            "I…just wanted to see if you were…okay," she said, eyes wide, "And obviously you are not"

            "I'm fine, what are you talking about?" She rolled her eyes and pushed past me, pointing to the mess I made.

            "_That's what I'm talking about." I sighed and slumped against the wall, accepting defeat. I didn't have the strength to argue and Jessica had full proof in front of her already anyway. Gingerly she picked up a piece of what used to be my phone._

            "What happened?" she took me by the shoulders and pushed me onto my bed.

            "I don't know," I muttered. Jessica stood there and watched me silently. Finally she got up and tentatively picked up the two pieces of what used to be my MVP Hawk trophy, eyes flashing with realization. 

            "Did your dad call?" she asked, gently putting the trophy down onto the top of the bureau and sitting down next to me.

            "How'd you know?"

            "Who else misunderstands you so much that it causes you to get so distressed?"

            I shrugged, "I guess so," I looked up at her and shook my head, "It's just…he gets me so damn mad. I just wish that he could understand what I'm trying to say. He can't live the life he wanted through me and he can't expect me to want the things we wanted. All my life, I worked my ass of just to make him proud, but nothing was ever enough. I can't _be_ that guy and I just wish he'd listen to me tell him that. Every time I try, he goes on and on about my future. Well I'm still young. I'm fourteen fucking years old, dammit. What if, in two years, I decided I don't want to play pro hockey? What am I going to do then, without a complete education?" I let out a breath of relief. I hadn't realized how much better I'd feel if I told someone what I was feeling.

            "Do what _you want. Not what your dad wants. My dad wants me to play hockey too; the whole female hockey player thing is supposedly big now," she rolled her eyes, "But I don't want to anymore. In fact, hockey lost its spot on my priority list a long time ago. I quit the team. I went to see Coach Wilson before I came here. I'm done with hockey."_

            "What? You quit? Just like that? But I can't quit hockey. I love hockey, I just don't want to go pro yet."

            "You don't have to quit. You have to do what _you_ want to do." 

            "But…how?"

            "Trust me," she leaned in and whispered her idea into my ear and I had to smile. It was corny and it was crazy. But it was the best idea I'd ever heard. 

**2 chapters in a day!! GO ME!**


	25. Charlie

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: Apologies are hard to do.  **

****

****

**Charlie**

****

            Apologies had never come easy for me. It had been hard for me to apologize to Adam for my out of control behavior. How was I supposed to apologize to Jessica? Averman, Russ, Guy, Luis, and I seemed to be the only ones even slightly worried about it. _'Duh, Charlie. You guys are the only ones that want to apologize.'_ I thought to myself.

            The JV-Varsity showdown came sooner than I anticipated. I was excited about beating Varsity's ass, but I was nervous about Jesse Hall, who would be there. He'd heard about me being the prick of the century from Adam, I was sure. The atmosphere in the locker room wasn't exactly a party. There were no snappy comments from Averman, no loud slammer of locker doors, and no Bash Brothers grunting. Then again, we hadn't heard the latter all year long. 

            When we skated out onto the ice, I scanned the crowd for Jesse. And there he was sitting right next to my mom. A couple of rows up, Linda sat waving to me. I smiled and nodded back at her. What took me by surprise was who sat a few seats over from Linda. Jessica. Wasn't she supposed to be here? On the ice? Skating against us or something? I shook my head, confused, and looked over at Guy. He wasn't much surer than I was. 

            "You're going to wish like hell you stuck with us," Riley snarled to Banksie right before the whistle. 

            "Cut the trash talk!" Banks snapped at him. I smiled to myself. The whistle was heard and the puck dropped onto the ice. It was war. 

            By the end of the third quarter, neither team had been able to score a goal. We were trying as hard as we could to clear the trash, so to speak. By that I meant Varsity _and_ defense tactics. But when Kenny stepped out onto the ice too soon, we had to take two players out. Coach put me, Banks, and Goldberg in. As shocked as Goldberg was about being put in the game at the most desperate moment, everyone knew he deserved it. 

            I was racing down center ice, only to have the puck stolen. I saw Julie get faked out, clearing the net. Riley was shooting the puck into an open net. Panicking, I screamed for Julie to get back in there, but out of nowhere, Adam dove in front of the goal and the puck bounced off of his chest. What a save! We were in control of the puck again and I had a clear path in front of me. I guess I didn't realize how many of them were trailing me. Suddenly, two huge Varsity guys surrounded me out of nowhere. I passed it back, hoping that someone was there to take it. Adam hadn't been able to get there from across the rink so the puck landed with Goldberg who looked scared out of his mind. Everyone, including Banks and myself, was screaming for Goldberg to shoot.

            "SHOOT! GOLDBERG, SHOOT!!!!!" It was as if everything was in slow motion. Goldberg winded up and shot his best shot right as two Varsity players knocked him over. Scooter missed the save. We won. WE WON!!! I raced over to Goldberg and Banksie met us there. The three of us hugged in happiness before being mobbed by the rest of the team. It was all a blur from there. All I remember is Linda and the kiss.

            "Hey Charlie! That was a great game!" Jesse Hall called out as soon as I stepped out of the locker room.

            "JESSE!" I dropped my things and embraced my friend in a hug. Soon everyone was out and talking to Jesse. 

            "Adam! That's was awesome! Did you _see_ the look on Riley's face?!" Jessica ran and tackled Adam into a flying hug. Adam, who now wore a huge smile on his face, laughed. 

            Breathlessly Jessica turned to the rest of us, "Congrats! You guys did great!"

            "Thanks," came the scattered replies. A few of the team rolled their eyes at her perkiness, but hey! That was what made everybody happy sometimes: perkiness. If she noticed the eye rolls, she didn't show that she did.

            "Jesse Hall meet Jessica Bombay," Banks introduced the two. 

            Jesse nodded at her, "So this is the famous Jessica Bombay?"

            Jessica blushed, "Adam! Were you talking about me again?!"

            "No," Adam said sarcastically with a smile, "Talk about you? Never!"

            "Of course, like the time you didn't talk about me to Danny Larson."

            "Yeah…wait no!" I laughed. I'd never really seen Adam this alert before. It was different, in a good way.

            "How come you weren't out on the ice? I heard you were on Varsity!" Jesse asked.

            "I was," Jessica shrugged, "I quit. I just didn't want to play, you know? It wasn't _fun anymore. It's not like I was actually going to go pro anyway. I'm not Adam Banks, you know."_

            "Fair enough," Jesse cracked a grin and I knew that he accepted her. The chatter started up again and everybody was happy. I noticed that Jessica was walking away in a sort of hurry. My eyes met Guy's. We nodded and went after her, Russ, Averman, and Luis behind us. 

            "Jessica!" I called. 

            She turned around.

            "Where are you going?"

            "Out," she replied simply.

            "Well before you do, can we say something?" Guy practically pleaded with her.

            She nodded.

            Aver started, "So this year didn't start out great. But, if anything, we made it worse for ourselves and the people around us, like Adam and you."

            "Yeah," Guys agreed, "And even though you and Banksie were on the outs, that didn't give us a reason to be mad at you."

            "We realized how cool you are and though the feeling is not shared by the whole team, the five of us want to," I stopped and licked my lips, "Well the four of us want to start over with you. So we're…"

            "We're sorry," Luis finished. I nodded vigorously in agreement. Jessica thought for a moment before looking up at us and slowly nodding her head.

            "Well," she said, "I guess a person can't always help their feelings. Honestly, I'd be a bit mad at someone too if they hurt one of my best friends. Still, what I don't understand is why you just dropped Adam like that. I could've cared less if you still hated me; I didn't even know who the hell you were. Plus I _was a Hawk even after Adam got re-zoned. But Adam…he was one of you. A Duck. He'll never be a Warrior because he's a Duck. And just like McGill decided to push him into the post and leave him in the dust, you did too."_

            "Yeah," I said miserably, "Don't remind me. I feel guilty enough as it is." 

            "Well you should. Just don't do it again. Adam was depressed as hell. It went on so long, he didn't yell at me for a week. I almost fainted when he actually _agreed with me."_

            We all smiled weakly.

            "Ah, shit! I'm late! Catch you later!" And she ran off. I guess everything was alright with us now. 

**Thanks for the reviews!!**

**Anne918: ***grins* I love Adam when he's talking back too. The plan is in the next chapter so read on!!! 

**Nebula2: **Yes, I know. Your Adam/dad relationship is probably more twisted than mine. Well, the plan is in the next chapters so read on!!

**Please review!!**


	26. Jessica

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

**This chapter: The plan and so much more…revealed.**

**The song is copyrighted by ME! **

****

****

**Jessica**

****

            "Jessica," there was my dad. I sighed, knowing that this conversation would have to happen sometime soon.

            I turned, "Hi. Look I have to run-"

            "How come you weren't playing? Do you feel alright?"

            "I feel fine. I quit the team."

            "What?" he looked slightly bewildered. I sighed again and leaned against the wall. This was going to take longer than I thought. 

            "I quit hockey," I repeated calmly, "Before you say anything, I'd like to state that is was my choice."

            "But I thought you loved hockey!"

            "I _do love hockey. But I love my music and my health even more."_

            "What?"

            "I'm very grateful that you're trying to help me be comfortable and I'm extremely grateful that you took me in," I took a breath, hoping I didn't sound too rude, "But you don't know me. You've never met me until a few months ago and even now, you still don't know me. Sure I like to play hockey, but I'm no Wayne Gretsky and I am certainly not an Adam Banks. I really appreciate the support you've shown me and I hope you don't take this the wrong way. It's just that I'm not a hockey kind of person. You may know Ethan, but I'm not Ethan either," I took out another invitation to the gig and handed it to him, "Come tomorrow and you'll see." Without waiting for a response, I strolled off in search of Ethan's girlfriend who agreed to take me to the doctor's office. 

            I don't think I'd ever said that much to him before. Hell, I don't think I'd even said that much to my mother either. But I hoped what I said left its mark. And I was so relieved that he was another Phillip Banks.

            "Nervous about tonight?" Danny asked me as we set up the equipment on stage Saturday afternoon. 

            "Depends on what you mean by nervous," I let out a breath, plugging in the amplifier.

            "Did you talk to Mr. Banks yet?" Tori asked, standing up from her seated position. I shook my head. Ethan was taking care of that and I was glad. Phillip Banks definitely scared me. Besides, he hated me with a burning passion. According to him, I made Adam miss the one game where, apparently, the most scouts showed up to. 

            Aaron plugged the guitar in, causing feedback.

            "AARON!!" we all yelled.

            "Sorry," he came onto the stage where we all stood and turned to me, "Did you take your meds yet?"

            I rolled my eyes and he took that as a yes. Ever since I told them about my lupus developing, Jordan, Danny, Aaron, and Tori had been on my back twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It wasn't that I didn't love them for it, it just got really annoying sometimes. At seven, we warmed-up and did a sound check; I took the vocals. I couldn't focus on the lyrics that we rehearsed a wrote, not even the extra-special one that I wrote _specifically_ for that night. Butterflies started to flutter in my stomach as I thought about what we were doing. 

            7:45 PM and I was freaking out backstage (It was actually the locker room for the home team, but I liked to think of it as backstage). I wasn't the only one. Tori was in a corner talking to herself and Aaron was jogging in place to get his mind off of the concert. Jordan was on a bench bouncing his leg up and down, glancing at the wall clock every few seconds. Aaron was nervously sipping at his water bottle, drumming his fingers on the wood of the bench. As for me, I was pacing the room trying to recite all the lyrics in my head. The football field, where the stage was set up (kind of like the super-bowl, but smaller), was huge. To think that we'd be playing for _real_ people (not that 6-year-oldds weren't real) was scary. 

            "Reality…you guys ready?" Eric, this guy that knew Jordan and had somehow become our manager, stuck his head in.

            "No," we all said at the same time, eyes snapping up to him.

            Eric laughed lightly, "Look I know this is a _huge_ gig, but you guys shouldn't worry about it. Just go out there and pretend it's like all the other gigs you've done. Forget about those extra people. There aren't even that many."

            "I don't know if that's supposed to make us feel better or worse, but thanks Eric," Tori stated wryly.

            "Anytime. Have fun, you guys. So what if a few record label guys are out there? You-"

            "RECORD LABEL GUYS?! There are record label guys here?" I started to panic. Aaron put his hands on my shoulders and forced me to calm down, but who could calm down when there were _record labels_ out there?

            "Get ready, you're on in five," Eric shrugged and left the room. As soon as the door closed, everyone started to freak out. 

            "You guys," Danny stood up clearing his throat, "Don't worry. Those people out there…they don't matter. _We_ matter. Why are we doing this again? Because for me, it sure as hell isn't for the money or some stupid deal. I'm doing it because I love it, because I can express my emotions in songs and have fun at the same time. If today we are Reality, a local band that plays for parties, and tomorrow we are Reality, the hit new hand from Minnesota, we are still Danny Larson, Tori Montgomery, Jessica Bombay, Jordan Knight, and Aaron King. So forget about all that extra junk and let's do what we came here to do—have fun." He sat back down and we stared at him for awhile. I knew he was right though. So what if there were big guys out there? I didn't care. Well, I _did_, but if we didn't land a deal, I'd be fine too.

            Suddenly I found myself in the doorway of the football filed and Eric was announcing us. I grabbed Tori's arm and she grasped onto mine. 

            "Tori," I said anxiously, "Do we have my meds with us just in case?" I wondered frantically what would happen if I had a flare during the gig.

            "Check," she whispered back.

            "…REALITY!!" Eric screamed. I was stuck. I couldn't move. Jordan reached over and pushed me. I stumbled out and kept running until I reached the stage. Reaching for the microphone, I felt a familiar rush. As long as the microphone was in my hands, I'd be okay. 

            Tori started the beat, "One, two, three!!" And the music started. Taking in a deep breath, I dove into the lyrics, losing myself in them. After the third song, I started looking for Ethan. Adam' song was next! Where the hell was he? I shook my head and focused on the music being played.

            "The next song is dedicated to someone special," I said, catching my breath and triumphantly spotting my brother and an angry Mr. Banks in tow. Scanning the crowd I found Adam in the front row. I motioned for him to come up.

            "Our friend, Adam, has something important to say." I handed him the microphone, giving him a smile and an encouraging nod. Danny, Aaron, Jordan, and Tori added some, 'Yeah, Adam's for emphasis.

            "All my life I've done everything you wanted me to, Dad," Adam took in a shaky breath when he saw his father come to attention, "When I was eligible, I tried out for the Hawks. I practiced for months ahead of time so I was sure I'd make it. But then something happened. I fell in love with the sport. When you told me to quit hockey for the season so that I wouldn't play with the Ducks, I couldn't do that, dad. I wanted to play way too much. And then when I sprained my wrist at the Jr. Goodwill Games, I wanted to hide it because I wanted the scouts to see me. Because I knew that's what _you_ wanted; you would've been proud. Then we all got accepted into Eden Hall on scholarship and I made the Varsity hockey team. I think that may have been the last time you said anything nice to me. Still I wanted to play with my friends because it was then that I realized. I'm only fourteen. I still have my whole high school career to decided if I even _want_ to turn to pro hockey. When you told me Jessica would always be in the way of my hockey career, I realized something else. This is my life and all these people that you're criticizing are my friends. And Jessica, especially, has been there for me more time than I can count in my life. It was only right that I stayed at the hospital with her. And besides," he turned to me and smiled. My heart beat erratically as his blue eyes gazed into my brown eyes, "I think I love her." And he kissed me. When he pulled away, I was…amazed to say the least. Adam gave me his signature half-smile (in which I turned totally red under) before he continued, "I'm sorry I can't be that boy for you, dad. I'm sorry that I can't be you." He handed me the microphone, his hand lingering on mine, before he stepped off to the side. I'm pretty sure I had the hugest, goofiest, grin on my face. I turned to Tori and the guys. They nodded at me, smiling. Danny started up the keyboards that the guitars and drums followed. I glanced quickly at dam before starting the song:

_"Are you happy with me?_

_Are you gonna tell me to change?_

_'Cause nothing you say will make me believe you,_

_Nothing you do will make me listen to you._

_Every morning I see a different person,_

_And I know he's not me._

_He's you._

_He's me pretending to be you,_

_Trying to be everything you couldn't be,_

_Pretending that's what he wants to do,_

_Trying to do everything you couldn't do,_

_But daddy please,_

_I'm not that person,_

_Daddy please,_

_I'm sorry._

_I couldn't be you. _

_Are you listening to me?_

_Are you gonna tell me I'm wrong?_

_'Cause nothing I say gets through to you,_

_And nothing I do makes you proud of me._

_Every night I'm one person, I'm me,_

_But in the morning I'm not…_

_I'm you._

_I'm pretending to be you,_

_Trying to be everything you couldn't be,_

_Pretending that's what I want too,_

_Trying to do everything you couldn't do,_

_But daddy please,_

_I'm not that person,_

_Daddy please,_

_I'm sorry._

_I couldn't be you._

_Pretending…_

_To be something I'm not,_

_Pretending…_

_To be happy,_

_Pretending…_

_I want this._

_Tell me what's use in individuality,_

_When all I'm doing is_

_Pretending!_

_I'm pretending to be you,_

_Trying to be everything you couldn't be._

_Pretending to be you,_

_Trying to do everything you couldn't do._

_Daddy please,_

_That's not me._

_I'm sorry…_

_I can't pretend anymore."_

            And as we started the next set, I saw Adam leave with his dad, talking with bent heads. I smiled as I sang about growing up and living tough. I saw my dad in the audience, beaming at me. And I knew that he understood where I was coming from, which made everything better. 

            "So…our baby ain't single?!" Jordan feigned tears. I slapped him.

            "Nice job, guys! Some other people want to talk to you, come one!" Eric said as we all thirstily chugged water down. We scrambled to our feet and left the room. Waiting for us were two guys in suits.

            "If they're not CIA agents, then this could be what we've been waiting for," Danny whispered in my ear. I giggled and nodded vigorously. But I knew that whatever happened, it was still the best day of my life. Or somewhere close to it.  


	27. Epilogue

**Title: **More Than You'll Ever Know****

**Summary: **All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better. 

**Main Duck: **Adam Banks 

**Rating: **PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence****

**Time frame: **After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p****

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

****

****

**Epilogue**

****

**Four Years Later**

            It was the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning. Eighteen-year-old Adam Banks stood at the edge of the cemetery, head bent in sorrow and tears shining in his eyes. The past four years had been the best years of his life. His relationship with his dad was still awkward, but it was returning just the same. The Ducks were still his best friends when he made (and stayed on) Varsity sophomore year. They were all closer than ever. Then there was Jessica. The couple had only fought once in junior year when the stress of SAT's went over the top for both of them. Other than that, they were in love and happy together. Adam was starting college the following month at the University of Pennsylvania. Jessica would've gone to Princeton. 

            "Adam," a red-eyed Ethan Bombay beckoned for his sister's boyfriend to approach the coffin. Everyone there turned to stare at him. Adam stepped forward past the Ducks and the faculty of Eden Hall. Another step past the old Varsity players. Another step past former Hawks (minus McGill). Another step past his, Danny's, Tori's, Aaron's, and Jordan's families and the former football team of Eden Hall (Ethan's team). Another step past Aaron, Tori, Jordan, and Danny. A final step and he was in front of the coffin and in line with the immediate family.

            "Hey Jessie," he said softly letting a single tear drop to the ground, "Remember when you said that the concert was the 2nd best day of you life and the 4th anniversary was _the best_? I disagree. The best day of _my_ life was the day I met you. You were always a good fighter and friend. You helped me fight my way through high school and the drama it came with. And I know you'll help me fight my loneliness without you. I never met anyone like you and I knew you'd go far. Look where Reality is now. They definitely couldn't have done it without you. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come into my life.  I love you. Forever." Now Adam had a river streaming down his face.

            "She left a note. These are yours," Gordon Bombay handed over green, blue, and pink spirals. Her journals. Ethan handed him her favorite blanket, whispering, "She'd want you to have this." 

            Adam sat in his room later, staring at the journals before him. He picked up the pick one, the latest one, and flipped to the back to see her last memory. Their 4th anniversary. And then there was a tear-stained note. For Adam. 

_Adam,_

_            You know as well I as do that I'm not going to be alive any longer than the first week of college. I'm going to leave a note asking my father to give these journals to you. Maybe Ethan will have the sense to give you that old blanket. Remember when you got me that because I was always complaining that I was cold? Share these journals with Ethan. I'm sure he'll want to know what I was thinking half the time I was with him. I know you're scared. To tell you the truth, I am too. I'm scared as hell, Adam. How am I going to face this by myself? Without you? (And don't you dare take that as a sign of permission to commit suicide because I will never forgive you if you do) I never really thought about death. Even after I found out about the lupus in my body, I only thought about it for five minutes, tops. When the doctor told me that I had a high chance of death, I was terrified. It's not anyone's fault, though. It could have happened to anybody. _

_            I don't think I can express enough how much our 4th anniversary meant to me. I've never felt so loved in all my life and I can honestly tell you that I had a great time. You didn't hurt me in any way. And even if I already lost my virginity to Zak Hill, you were my first time. Willingly. I never knew you could cook, either. It makes me sad to think that I won't be able to find out anything else about the mysterious Adam Banks. But still, the time that we spent together is time that was definitely worth it. I don't regret anything when it comes to you, except maybe that fight we had freshman year. But when you think about it, if we didn't have that fight, we might not have gotten together in the first place. So maybe it's a good thing. _

_            I'm leaving you the bracelet you gave me. Now you can have both halves and remember me forever. And please, Adam, don't dwell on me forever because if I know you, and I really would like to think I do, you'll be moping around all first semester. Don't. Go out and meet new people; I won't mind at all. Because I know that you'll still be thinking of me. Anyway, I digress. It wasn't supposed to be this long, but thinking of you gets me like this. Which makes it all the more painful. Dammit, Adam, I'm scared. I'm fucking scared!! But I'm ready. I wrote a note like this to my brother and my dad and my friends. Please give it to them. After saying good-bye to you, I'll have closure and I think I'll be ready. _

_            It was really fun and it was the best choice I'd ever made, being with you. I'll miss you so damn much because well, Adam, you're just fucking amazing. You're the best buy any girl could ask for and I'm so lucky that I had you there for me for four straight years. Good-bye. Oh and one last thing. Adam Bradley Banks, I love you._

_Love forever and always,_

_Jessica_

            Adam cried silently, adding a mixture to the Jessica's dried tears on the page. Their 4th anniversary had been the week before. And Jess already knew it would be the last she was alive for. She knew the lupus was consuming her body and that she wouldn't make it another year. 

            "I love you too, Jessica Rachel Bombay," Adam whispered bringing her blanket to his face, his tears getting absorbed into its stitches. He took in her scent. It still smelled like her. 

            "You really love her, huh?" Charlie Conway stood in the doorway, sympathy and a hint of tears shining in his eyes.

            Adam nodded, smiling at the thought of her beautiful face, "More than you'll ever know."

~*End*~

**I would just like to say thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this story, sticking with me even during the really bad parts of it =D. Hope to see everyone in another fic soon! **

**~Melody~**


End file.
